India-Russia Friendship Motor Rally to be held in Odisha capital

Bhubaneswar: The Kalinga Motor Sports Club (KMSC), which has been working in field of popularising motorsport in Odisha, is all set to organise India-Russia Friendship Motor Rally here this year.

India-Russia Friendship Motor Rally will be held to commemorate the celebration of 70 years of Diplomatic Relations between India and Russia and 70 years of Indian Independence.

With organising this friendship car rally, the motorsport lovers will get one more chance to watch the international rally in the city.

The event will be flagged off with 20 teams in 22 cars comprising of 60-70 participants from India, Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia to cover 19,235 km by road and 1960 nautical mile (NM) by sea.

The rally will be held in two phases in India and Russia. The event in India will be flagged off on February 20 from Bhilai and conclude on March 14 in New Delhi enroute several cities including Vizag, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Goa, Mumbai and Ahmadabad. It will reach Bhubaneswar via Ranchi and Bokaro.

In second phase, the participants will assemble in Mumbai and proceed to Bandar Abbas in Iran on April 27. The rally will commence on April 29 from Bandar Abbas and end on May 16 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The rally will be held under the aegis of Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Commerce & Industry and the Embassy of The Russian Federation in India to strengthen the existing bilateral relations, to boost trade and investments and to promote connectivity between India and Russia in tourism, science and research.

Earlier, KMSC had organised four international motor rallies including India-Nepal and Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal. The India-Russia will be the longest motor rally in India, said KMSC’s senior member Rashmi Ranjan Kanungo in a press meet yesterday.