BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday laid the foundation stone for the renovation and redevelopment of the historic Barabati stadium at Cuttack and VSS cricket stadium in Sambalpur.
The chief minister said the Barabati stadium will be redeveloped into a world-class sports complex with all the modern facilities, in partnership with BCCI, OCA and corporates. Considering the legacy of the stadium, the iconic clock tower will be conserved as a heritage structure. Besides, the VSS stadium in Sambalpur will be expanded and developed with the best cricket facilities for the sportspersons in the region, he added.
Naveen also inaugurated cricketing facilities at Berhampur Sports Complex, Shree Jagannath Cricket Stadium and Women’s Cricket Academy at Puri, Sports Complex in Jajpur and cricket ground at Jharsuguda. He also dedicated 41 cricket academies developed across the state by the OCA.
The chief minister stated that the stadium in Berhampur will be named as Mahatma Gandhi Cricket Stadium, in memory of Gandhiji’s visit to this place during the freedom movement. Besides, an integrated sports complex will be developed at Sitalapalli in Berhampur.
This will include facilities for athletics, football, cricket and an indoor stadium to cater to the needs of the sportspersons in the region.
He inaugurated the Ganjam Weightlifting Academy along with the 200-seated hostel making it the largest weightlifting training facility in the country. Several sports infrastructure in Jajpur including Kusuma Complex swimming pool, hockey training centre, a multipurpose indoor stadium, athletic track and football ground were also inaugurated.
The chief minister said the focus on cricket by the state government and OCA will help in creating a good ecosystem for emergence of champions from the state in the coming years.
Sports is a priority area for the government to enable youth empowerment and Odisha is now recognised as a major destination for sports in the country, he said. The programme was conducted across 50 venues over video-conferencing with cricketers and sportspersons in attendance. President of OCA Pranab Prakash Das along with members and minister of state for Sports and Youth Services Tushar Kanti Behera were present.