Cuttack: The Barabati Stadium here will be demolished completely for the purpose of its transformation, said Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) Secretary Sanjay Behera today.
Earlier in the day, 5T Chairman Kartik Pandian had visited the stadium to hold discussion regarding the development of the sporting venue.
The transformed Barabati Stadium will have bucket seats while the seating capacity will be increased from 44,000 to 60,000. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will lay the foundation stone for development of the stadium on February 27. It has been aimed to complete the transformation work within three years, said Behera.
BCCI, Odisha Government and OCA will be involved in the project. The State Government and the OCA will spend around Rs 600 crores in this regard, he added.
It was revealed after Pandian’s visit that the transformational work will be carried out under the 5T initiative of the State Government. 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.
