Bhubaneswar: To make Odisha a sports hub in the country, the State Government has incurred an expenditure of more than Rs 3052 crore in creating sports infrastructure during last five years.
According to official data provided by Sports and Youth Services Minister Suryabanshi Suraj in the Assembly, the State has spent Rs 3052 crore for creating sports infrastructures in different places during 2019-20 to 2023-24.
Highest amount of Rs 1222.96 crore was spent for building sports infrastructure during the financial year 2022-23 while Rs 1044.08 crore utilized for this purpose during the last financial year (2023-24).
Similarly, the government has spent Rs 144 crore, Rs 148.20 crore and Rs 493.35 crore during the financial years 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively.
The Government has also made an expenditure of nearly Rs 300 crore for providing world class training to athletes from the State during the five years.
Moreover, Rs 3.4 crore utilized for identification of talents from grassroots during the five years.
For enabling athletes to excel globally, the State Government has taken a slew of measures including development of world class sports infrastructure in Hockey, Athletics, Weightlifting, Gymnastic, Tennis, Badminton, Swimming, Football, Shooting, Table Tennis, etc.
The Government has also set up High-Performance Centres in Olympic Sports disciplines like; Hockey, Athletics, Weightlifting, Swimming, Shooting, Gymnastic, Kho Kho, Archery, Football, Wall Climbing and Badminton, where high-performance coaching is imparted to sportspersons through experienced coaches and support staff. Residential and nutritional support required for high-performance is provided to sportspersons, the Minister said in his statement.
Similarly, sports science facilities have been established, equipped with sports science equipment and professional sports science experts to provide sports science support to sportspersons. Cash awards and incentives are provided to medal winning sportspersons to encourage them.
The Government is providing financial support to the sportspersons for pursuing advance training and coaching in India and abroad. Financial support is also given to sportspersons for their participation in national and international sports competitions as per the guidelines, he added.