In a first, over 1000 athletes from 45 countries are scheduled to take part in the 22nd edition of the competition to be held here from July 6 to 9.
According to a statement from the orgainsers, it is double the number of 497 athletes from 40 nations that took part in the last edition held in Wuhan, China in 2015.
The multi-purpose Kalinga Stadium, which will also host the Hockey World Cup in 2018, has been transformed into a world-class athletics track for the event, meeting all the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) standards.