Odisha using the power of sport in transforming lives and empowering athletes

Odisha is usually associated with hockey for the number of international stars coming from there on a regular basis. Besides, Odisha government is the sponsor of the men’s and women’s national senior and junior hockey teams till 2033, beginning this relationship in 2018.

Add to it, Odisha’s capital Bhubaneswar is home to the multi-purpose sports complex, Kalinga Stadium that conducted the Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup in January 2023. And, FIH Pro League is a regular feature in Odisha. The world’s largest hockey stadium, Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in Rourkela with 20,011 permanent seating capacity is in this Eastern State of India.

Odisha is not only about the world-famous Sun Temple in Konark, or the annual ritual of the Puri Jagannath Yatra, or the largest brackish water lake in India, the Chilika Lake, or the annual visit of Ridley Olive turtles to the beaches along the Odisha coast. There is more to Odisha than just these.

There is more to sports in Odisha than just hockey. Encouraged by their sports-loving Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his vision ‘Sports for youth, youth for future’, Odisha has emerged as the No. 1 sports hub in the country over the years. And, the person leading Odisha’s mission to make India a top sporting nation in the world is VK Pandian, a former bureaucrat who has been a close aide of CM Patnaik and who has now been given a significant rank in Odisha cabinet as the Chairman of 5T (Transparency, Technology, Teamwork, Time and Transformation) Initiative.

“It’s a continuous transformation. I don’t think it will come to an end until India gets a lot of gold medals in the Olympics. A scientific study was done and we identified the core areas where we can do well. We identified areas where we can get Asian medals and where, if we invest, we will get Olympic medals in 8-12 years. By getting sponsors, giving the athletes infrastructure, creating an ecosystem, giving them freedom, hopefully we should get the results,” said Pandian of his mission.

Pandian and his team are key to implementing the various projects in Odisha, bringing the State to the forefront in many areas including sports.

“The CM is passionate about sports. He once said, ‘If the Indian national flag goes up on the Olympic podium, the 140 crore people will walk one inch taller, at least for that day’. It is an unexplainable feeling one gets out of sports, and our CM wanted Odisha to contribute in this expression of youth part to the world,” said Pandian.

The Sports and Youth Services Department, Government of Odisha, under the guidance and encouragement of CM Patnaik has come up with top-class infrastructure and facilities in sport.

Capital Arena Football ground in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha.

The most recent being the understanding between Odisha government and the All India Football Federation (AIFF) in the presence of renowned football manager Arsene Wenger, who is FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development on November 21, 2023. Under this MoU, the AIFF-FIFA Talent Academy will be set up at the Odisha Football Academy in Bhubaneswar.

Wenger, who guided Arsenal FC to three Premier League and seven FA Cup titles during his stint between 1996 and 2018, was impressed with the infrastructure in Odisha. Wenger said: “I’m happy to be in India with my team. I saw the facilities and the quality of infrastructure is great here in Odisha.”

Odisha is also home to world-class athletics infrastructure, the flood-lit stadium being constructed in quick time for the Asian Athletics Championships in 2017 after Jharkhand withdrew at the last minute.

“We hosted the Asian Athletic Championships in 90 days. Jharkhand had bid for the Asian Athletic Championships and were constructing stadiums. However, they were not able to complete it. Naveenbabu was approached and told, ‘If India cannot conduct it, it will be a black mark for the country’. So we had 90 days to host an international event. We didn’t have floodlights, no synthetic track nor basic infrastructure. But the CM said we should try. We pulled through in 90 days, and the event was a success.”

Odisha boasts of setting up High Performance Centres to look into the minute details of the sportspersons. Kalinga Stadium has come up with a state-of-the-art Sports Science Centre. This pioneering venture embodies a philosophy centred on athletes, offering a comprehensive sanctuary for those aspiring to sporting greatness.

Indoor athletics track in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha.

The Kalinga Stadium Sports Complex boasts of diverse sports infrastructure. The Indoor Athletics Centre will be India’s first indoor athletic stadium and features 200m athletics track with seating gallery for 2,000 spectators. It also has an 80m plus 20m running track and areas for pole vault, shot put, long and high jump, weight training centre among others.

The Indoor Aquatic Complex recently conducted the swimming nationals and features 50m Olympic-size swimming pool with 1,000 seating capacity, 25m pool, fitness centre, sports recovery facility and accommodation facility with 26 twin-sharing rooms.

The Sports Science Centre will be India’s largest Sports Science Centre. With cutting edge equipment, it will cater to the rehab and recovery of athletes across disciplines.

The under-construction badminton sports infrastructure will be developed and operated under the aegis of legendary coach Pullela Gopichand. It will feature eight badminton courts with 500 seating capacity, cafeteria, guest rooms and gymnasium.

The ITF-certified tennis centre features synthetic court with seating for 1,500 spectators. It also houses a fitness centre, auditorium with 180 seats. Besides it has eight synthetic courts.

The gymnastics centre with 250 seating capacity is one of the finest in the country. Other facilities include the 10m shooting range with 20 targets (10 electronic target plus electrical target changer), weightlifting hall, Khelo India State Centre of Excellence and Sports Climbing Wall.

The Government of Odisha has roped in several corporates for promoting sports and providing the best of infrastructure for the talented sportspersons not only from Odisha but also from other States.

Pandian said: “The Hon. CM has made it very clear. Anybody excelling in sports and wants to win medals for India is welcome. Athletes from Andhra, Assam, gymnasts from different States train here. Even Neeraj Chopra trained here for three months post-Covid.”

Aquatics venue in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha.

The Odisha government has tied up with Aditya Birla Group and Gagan Narang for shooting, Abhinav Bindra Targeting Performance for Sports Science Centre, Reliance Youth Foundation Sports for Athletics High Performance Centre, JSW for swimming, Tatas for Hockey High Performance Centre, KJS Ahluwalia Group and Tenvic Sports for weightlifting High Performance Centre.

The Odisha government’s mantra is to get one corporate to support one discipline. Pandian explained: “I don’t think we have asked Reliance to do anything except athletics. We have asked Tatas to do hockey, JSW to support swimming. We are very clear with the fact that if you are focused, they will oblige. They also share a passion for sports in the country.”

Odisha has been in the forefront of many fields in the country after lagging way behind a few years ago. Its sports budget has increased manifold from ₹4 crore in 2000-01 to ₹1,217 crore in 2023-24. It is almost up by ₹1,000 crore in the last four years from ₹266 crore in 2019-20.

“When Naveen sir took over as CM in 2000, we were a bankrupt State. We used to depend on RBI for our own salary releases. Now with ₹43,700 crore of revenue surplus, Odisha is the number one revenue surplus state in the country. We have set benchmarks internationally in disaster management. The speed in which and the scale in which we have reduced poverty under our Chief Minister’s leadership, 65 lakh people have been lifted out of poverty. Besides, we are spending ₹3000 crore on healthcare every year under the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana. Under this, nearly 90% of the population is covered with smart health cards to avail private hospital services across Odisha and India,” Pandian said.

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