Odisha Chief Minister to inaugurate India’s biggest hockey stadium on Jan 5

Rourkela: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is scheduled to visit the Steel City and inaugurate several projects, including India’s biggest hockey stadium, tomorrow (January 5).

The Chief Minister will inaugurate Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium, built at an expenditure of Rs 146.5 crore on the premises of Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) here, ahead of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup-2023, scheduled to be held in Odisha from January 13 to 29.

Altogether 20 matches of the men’s hockey world cup would be played at Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium while the remaining 24 matches, including the final, will be held at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, sources said.

Built on 15 acres of land, Birsa Munda Stadium can accommodate 20,000 spectators, sources added.

“The Chief Minister is scheduled to inaugurate as many as 10 projects, including the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium on Thursday. The Chief Minister may make a night halt in the Steel City,” said a source in the Sundargarh district administration.

The Chief Minister will inaugurate a water park, built at an expenditure of Rs 11.99 crore in the city here, said Additional Collector Subhankar Mahapatra.

The beautification work of the Ring Road from Hanuman Vatika Square to the main gate of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) will be dedicated to people by the Chief Minister. The beautification work has been done at an expenditure of Rs 17.93 crore, sources said.

The Chief Minister is scheduled to inaugurate the beautification projects at Vedavyas Shaivite shrine on the outskirts of the Steel City. The state government has spent Rs 16.07 crore on the beautification work, sources added.

Patnaik will also inaugurate hockey astro turfs in 17 blocks of Sundargarh, a sensory park in Rourkela and a vending zone at Raghunathpali, said an official of the district administration.