Rourkela: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who was on a one-day visit to Sundargarh district Tuesday, laid the foundation stone for the new international Hockey Stadium here. He announced that the stadium, which will host a number of 2023 World Cup matches, has been named after ‘Birsa Munda’. Once completed, the stadium will be called the ‘Birsa Munda’ Hockey Stadium.
The stadium site is located within the sprawling campus of Biju Patnaik University of Technology, one of the premier technical institutes of Odisha State. The stadium is adjacent to the Rourkela air strip, where the commercial flights are expected to start soon.
The hockey stadium will be a new benchmark in global stadium design for hockey, offering one of the finest spectator experiences in the world and, with a chaired seated capacity exceeding 20,000, will become the largest hockey stadium in India.
The stadium will be a model of green, functional, cost effective design. Designed to deliver the best match day atmospheres in the world, each seat will have uninterrupted sightlines and the spectators will be closer to the pitch than at any other hockey stadium in the world.
Working closely with Hockey India (HI), all aspects of the technical and operational compliances have been met to provide a seamless facility to host the World Cup.
Referring Rourkela city as a ‘City of Hopes’, Naveen said the city reminds him the association of Biju Babu (Patnaik) with the city. Starting from Rourkela Steel Plant to NIT, all the places in the city have the memories of Biju Babu. People not only from Odisha but also from neighbouring states visit this city in search of livelihoods, said the chief minister.
Describing the progress achieved during his tenure, he said while the state’s budget was only Rs 2,800 crore in the year 2000, projects worth Rs 5,000 crore has been launched for Sundargarh district on a single day.
The CM also thanked the women of Mission Shakti for their involvement in the progress of the state. He specifically mentioned Jayanti Ekka of Balishankara area describing how she became the cynosure of all eyes at Make-In-Odisha conclave held in Bhubaneswar.
PNN
