Punjab govt to set up seven international stadia

The Punjab government will built seven international stadia in the state, including one here, it was announced today.
The state government has selected seven districts for international stadia - Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Bathinda, Mahilpur and Mohali.
"The stadium-cum-sports complex will be constructed as part of the expansion scheme of Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar," said District sports officer Harpaljit Kaur.
"A design competition was invited by the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) and the final plan has been approved by the government and the construction work would be starting soon," she added.
Dubbed as a brainchild of Navjot Singh Sidhu, Amritsar would be developed as a sport-hub to create facilities to host sporting events beside providing a world-class infrastructure to the budding players.

For this purpose, the trust will give 15 acres of land.

AIT Chairman Sandip Rishi said that total cost of the project would be around Rs 25 crore and the project would be started by September.
The proposed facility will comprise of an Olympic size pool, athletics stadium, basketball and badminton courts, gymnastics, Judo and boxing among others.
It will also host socio-cultural events with the 7500-spectators seating capacity.
Food court, sports mall, a hostel-cum-residential complex for 200 players and coaches would also be set up in the stadium.
She said the stadium would play a significant role in promoting sports culture not only in Amritsar city but also in adjoining rural areas.