Sports academy to launch indoor cricket arena

Will invest Rs 100 crore over a period of one year.

Neo International Sports Academy (NISA), in association with the Australian International Sports Academy (AISA), on Tuesday announced its first indoor cricket arena which is set to come up in Gandhinagar.

NISA, the Mumbai-based sports training, marketing and management company is planning to enter other Indian states like Rajasthan and Maharashtra soon after the completion of the project.

The Gandhinagar project, implemented in association with a local firm Phoenix Sports and Recreation, will take six months to be completed and after the completion as a part of the project three such arenas will be set up in Ahmedabad and one each in cities like Rajkot, Baroda and Surat.

The entire Gujarat project is set to cost an estimated Rs 100 crore and will take one year for completion. Soon after that, phase two will be launched in other states of the country.

Talking to Business Standard, after the official announcement of the India's largest indoor cricket arena, Vidya Gaikwad, the vice chairman of NISA said, "We will come up with three more arenas in Ahmedabad and plans include one each in smaller cities like Rajkot, Vadodara and Surat also. The Gandhinagar facility will take six months to be completed and after that we will launch the rest of Gujarat project. After the completion of Gujarat project we will enter Rajasthan and Maharashtra. We have already identified cities in both these states which includes Jaipur in Rajasthan and Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra."

She said that the indoor sports complex to come up in Gandhinagar will also have beach volleyball facility, Basket Ball facility at a later stage.

The Gujarat project will have an estimated investment of Rs. 100 crore.

Talking about the other states she said, "The Gandhinagar facility will be the largest such facility in the country and we plan to set up even larger facilities in Jaipur, Mumbai and Pune. We have already started searching for proper properties in all these cities and we will keep announcing the developments in the future as soon as we find suitable properties."

However, she refused to comment on the investment plans of the company in the future expansion saying that its too early to comment on that.

The project of indoor cricket arena in Gandhinagar was announced in presence of the Indian cricket legend Kapil Dev and former cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin, former Australian cricketers Dean Jones and Eddo Brandes along with Tony Dell, CEO and director of AISA. Gujarat's Youth welfare and sports minister Anandiben Patel was also present at the function held in Ahmedabad.

The indoor cricket arena in Gandhinagar will come up in Koba area and will be the largest such facility in the country. The centrally air conditioned sports complex will be spread across 150,000 sq feet and will have four courts and eight floors.

The complex, along with special arenas for beach volley ball and beach soccer, will have food courts and shopping facilities also. The company aims to provide a total entertainment facility for children, corporate people and youth.