Bolstered by the overwhelming praise for its ‘sports development model’, the Odisha government on Monday decided to set up 89 multi-purpose indoor stadiums at a cost of Rs 693.35 crore.

The state has earned accolades from Olympians to the parliamentary committee that took note of the Odisha government sponsoring the men and women hockey teams and hosting the Hockey World Cup in 2018.

CM Naveen Patnaik had encouraged the teams and had spoken to them over video calls. Both Manpreet Singh and Rani Rampal expressed their gratitude to the CM.

The state is to receive the teams here on 17 August.

On Monday, the state cabinet approved a proposal to build 89 multi-purpose indoor stadiums under the “Urban Sports Infrastructure Development Project ‘ over the next 18 months to provide a major boost for the development of sports.

Odisha is poised to become a leading destination for sports events and a sports powerhouse.

Under the 5 T initiative, this project has been taken up to ensure transformation of the Sports sector in the state, said the chief secretary S C Mahapatra in his post-cabinet meeting brief.

These indoor stadiums are built for multi-purpose utility. The stadiums will have facilities for playing Badminton, Table Tennis, Yoga, Gymnasium, etc.

The indoor stadiums are also designed to withstand 200 kmph wind speed. The stadiums can be utilised as community shelters during disasters like cyclones, floods, etc.

In times of pandemics, the stadium can be converted into a 50-bed (NAC Model) or 100-bed (Municipality model) field hospital, he said. The Stadiums will be an asset for the ULBs which can be utilised for training, meetings, examination centres, etc.

It is pertinent to note that a team of bureaucrats led by the powerful secretary to CM, Mr. V Kartikeyan Pandian, Vishal Dev had successfully created the required infrastructure within a short period of time to host the Asian Athletics Championship in 2017 within 90 days.

The team of officers went on to host one of the best ever Hockey World Cup in 2018 at Kalinga Stadium with a string of superstars from Bollywood to cricket and music gracing the inaugural event.

Currently, Odisha is busy building the biggest hockey stadium in Rourkela.

Several centers of excellence, sports academies have come up with sponsorship from corporate houses.

In other decisions, the cabinet today sanctioned over 18 acres in Sambalpur for the permanent campus of IIM Sambalpur free of premium, waiver of annual rent and Cess on land for the establishment of Bagchi-Sri Shankar Cancer Centre and Research Institute and Bagchi Karunashraya Palliative Care Centre at Bhubaneswar and the renovation of Upper Indravati Right Main Canal.