CHENNAI: A Global Sports City, announced by the DMK government in the last budget session, is likely to come up in Semmancheri on the outskirts of Chennai. Sources said, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) is finalising the site and will soon prepare a detailed project report.
Official sources said Semmmancheri, Kuthambakkam, and Vandalur were the three sites considered by the CMDA. The development comes after Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin held a meeting with CMDA officials in July.
The sports city is likely to have a large stadium, multiple football grounds, athletic tracks, an Olympic-size swimming pool, and a velodrome (a stadium containing a banked cycle-racing track), among others. It has been envisaged to create a world-class sporting infrastructure that would cater to regional, national and international events and for the training of athletes across the country.
Initially, the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu planned to set up a mega sports city on 500 acres in Tiruporur taluk with sports infrastructure on par with international standards. Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) has floated tenders inviting consultants to prepare a techno-economic feasibility report.
TIDCO commissioned the study for setting up the facility last year. The project was planned near Thiruvidanthai, about 30km south of Chennai on ECR. The project land, nestled between ECR and Old Mahabalipuram Road, was part of 3,000 acres of government land where the AIADMK government had planned to build an administrative city in 2003. The project was later dropped by TIDCO and then it was taken over by the CMDA.