TN to set up 500-acre mega sports city on Chennai outskirts

Chennai, Jan 27 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu State Industrial Development Corporation (TSIDC) has floated tenders for appointing consultants to conduct techno-economic feasibility studies for a new sports city in a 500-acre area in the outskirts of Chennai on the East Coast Road. The estimated project cost is Rs 700 crore.

The swanky sports city will have athletic tracks, cycle velodromes, an indoor hockey stadium, high-end gymnasiums, and all the modern amenities a sports city can boast of. The sports complex will be coming up at a place on the banks of Buckingham canal where the previous AIADMK government had planned a 3000-acre administrative city.

Tamil Nadu Sports minister, V. Meyyanathan told IANS that the sports city will be one of the best of its kind in the country and at par with international standards. The minister said, "We have studied Pune's Shree Sivaji Chhatrapati Sports Complex as well as Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, Patiala. However, the Sports complex that is coming up in Chennai will be better than these facilities."

The Tamil Nadu sports department is keen to implement the motto of 'Catch them Young'. The department will scout for raw talents in rural Tamil Nadu, train them from as young as 8 to 9 years and develop them into world-class athletes. The sports complex will provide them food, accommodation, and world-class training with internationally renowned coaches, fitness trainers, sports psychologists, sports medicine experts available for the sportspersons at any time of the day round the clock.

The new sports complex will have stadiums for Persons with Disabilities to undergo training in addition to other 18 sports items.

While there are several stadiums in many parts of Tamil Nadu, the state was lacking an integrated sports training complex and the new facility will be an apt substitute for this.

Interestingly, Tamil Nadu has doubled the number of athletes participating in the Olympics when compared to previous games.