Bhubaneswar: Riding high on Odisha’s achievements in the field of sports, Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari on Tuesday proposed Rs.301 crore for Sports and Youth Services Department.
The budget includes Rs.140 crore for sports infrastructure and Rs.91 crore for sports education. The budget for 2019-20 was Rs 226 crore.
Quoting Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the finance minister said, “Investment in sports is Investment in Youth…. and Investment in Youth is Investment in our future.”
It is a matter of great pride that among powerful countries like Australia, Belgium and Singapore, Odisha has been chosen to host the Men’s World Cup Hockey of 2023 for the second consecutive time, he added.
Apart from building world-class sporting infrastructure, Odisha is the only state to have High Performance Centres in many disciplines including athletics, shooting, weight lifting, hockey and badminton.