The development of a new 20,000-seat stadium for India’s staging of the 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup will be completed within a year, according to local officials, with the venue intended to become the world’s leading facility for field hockey.
The World Cup will be co-hosted by Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, both located in the state of Odisha, with Odisha Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik initially revealing the plans for the new stadium in the latter city last month.
A team of senior government officials led by Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra yesterday (Tuesday) visited Rourkela to review the plans for the new stadium. “As per the announcement made by the Chief Minister, it will be India’s largest hockey stadium, the identification of land and other works have been done, the construction work for the stadium will commence within three to four months and it will be completed within a record time of one year,” said Mohapatra, according to Indian news agency ANI.
The stadium will be developed at Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) and will serve as the second venue for the 2023 World Cup alongside Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, which was the sole host when India last staged the competition in 2018.
Mohapatra added: “This stadium will be built on 15 acres of land, along with the main pitch stadium there will be practice pitches with floodlights, accommodation for players, a media centre, gym, hydrotherapy, parking lots and other ultra-modern facilities of a world-class level.”
The 2023 World Cup will take place from January 13-29 and is intended to tie in with India celebrating 75 years of independence in that year.
Image: Odisha Government
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