Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday inaugurated Aditya Birla–Gagan Narang Shooting High-Performance Centre at Kalinga Stadium in the Odisha capital.
The 10m and 50m renovated shooting ranges have been developed by Aditya Birla Group.
He also inaugurated an indoor stadium at Hinjilicut and a multi-purpose indoor hall (with 3 badminton courts) at Chatrapur in Ganjam through video conferencing.
A synthetic hockey turf will be laid in Chhatrapur, the CM said.
“As part of the 5T initiative, there will be a transformation in sports development in the state in the coming years. We hope that quality coaching and infrastructure will help our athletes perform better and bring laurels to the state and the country. A new generation of world-class sportspersons from the state will emerge in the coming decade,” he added.
The indoor stadium at Hinjilicut has four badminton courts and spaces for table tennis, yoga, gym, physiotherapy and board games. It has been built at a cost of approximately Rs 11 crore.
The Chatrapur indoor stadium has three badminton courts and table tennis room, among other facilities.
Similarly, the High-Performance Centre has 22 lanes 10-meter range, which include 10 Electronic Lane and 12 Electrical Manual targets. The range can train more than 60 athletes every day. The range is equipped to handle Indian athletes from beginner to elite level. One-of-its-kind facilities in eastern India, it can attract a lot of athletes from nearby states to continue their training under high-performance coaches.
The HPC will be imparting training to the selected children under the Odisha Talent Adoption Program scheme at this facility from November onwards.
Sports Minister Tusharkanti Behera, Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy, senior Vice-President of National Rifle Federation of India Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, Development Commissioner Suresh Chandra Mahapatra and Sports Secretary Vishal K Dev were present among others.
Berhampur MP Chandra Sekhar Sahu and Aska MP Pramila Bisoi joined the ceremony from Ganjam. Ace athlete Dutee Chand was handed over the out-of-turn promotion on her achieving Arjuna Award.