Barabati Stadium to be transformed with 60,000 seating capacity under 5T

Cuttack: The Odisha Government has decided to transform the Barabati Stadium here by increasing the sporting venue’s seating capacity to 60,000. The transformational work will be carried out under the 5T initiative of the State Government.

This was revealed during 5T Chairman Kartik Pandian’s visit to the stadium, today. He held discussion with Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) President Pranab Prakash Das and other officials regarding the development of cricket in the state.

Pandian reviewed the plans for the transformation of the Barabati Stadium. The stadium area will be developed into a world-class sports campus with best facilities for cricket and other sports.

The spectators will experience international standards in terms of the access to the stadium right from roads to parking to the galleries, comfortable viewing of the matches and facilities like food courts, washrooms etc. The campus will also have facilities for other sports.

The area adjacent to the Barabati Stadium will be developed for retail mall along with 5-star hotel and offices spaces. The area in front of the stadium will be developed as a public plaza and will become one of the main open public spaces for the citizens of Cuttack city.

While interacting with coaches and players, Pandian assured that cricket development will be a priority under 5T transformation and cricket training centres with quality coaching will be developed across the state. The aim will be to make Odisha as a major emerging state in the field of cricket.

To improve the competitiveness of the Odisha cricket players, he suggested to start a high standard State-level cricket league this year with proper broadcast facilities as well.

Pandian said that women cricket will be a major focus area. Odisha has women cricketers who have been displaying exceptional talent at the national level. To further encourage and promote the women cricket development, Odisha Women Cricket Academy will be started in Puri, shortly.

The Odisha Cricket Academy in Cuttack will be further upgraded to provide the best coaching facilities for the cricketers across all age groups.

During the discussions at Barabati Stadium, Vineel Krishna, Secretary, Sports Department, Sanjay Behera, Secretary, OCA, Anil Samal, Chairman, CDA, Vineet Bharadwaj, Collector, Cuttack, and other senior officials were present.