Patna: CM Nitish Kumar inaugurates the State Sports Academy (SSA) at Rajgir on National Sports Day, August 29. The SSA, which will also include an international cricket stadium (ICS), is being developed over 90 acres with an estimated expenditure of Rs 750 crore.
The ICS is expected to be completed by June 2025 with the state building construction department handling the construction of buildings and infrastructure.
B Rajender, principal secretary of the sports department felicitates nine international-level players of the state on the occasion and each one conferred a cash prize based on their achievements in their respective fields. He said the Indian women’s hockey team, winners of the Asian Games 2023, will play an exhibition match on the newly constructed hockey turf.
The team will practice on the premises till September 1 and hockey trainees from four Eklavya centres will have the opportunity to play with the national team.
Rajender said the state govt has created 81 permanent and 33 contractual posts for the SSA and ICS, including positions for director, deputy director, assistant director, sports specialist trainer, public relations officer, dietician, scientific officer, librarian, masseur, yoga trainer and professional among others. Bihar Sports University (BSU), approved by the state govt on July 16, 2021, will also operate from the same campus. An additional 31 posts for officers and staff were approved in July 2022 to ensure smooth functioning of the university. Rajnikant, a 2011-batch IAS officer, will assume the role of BSU registrar effective September 1.
The SSA aims to provide international-level scientific training to state sportspersons through both residential and non-residential means, alongside constructing modern infrastructure for national and international sporting events.
Facilities will include an athletics track, football stadium, hockey turf stadium, swimming pool and courts for basketball, volleyball, handball, lawn tennis, wrestling, weightlifting, kabaddi, badminton, archery, shooting, table tennis, fencing, billiards, judo, taekwondo and cycling. Construction of sports hostels for both women and men, as well as a transit hostel, trainers’ residence and other facilities, is already complete.
Rajender added, “A team comprising various sports specialists visited the premises at Rajgir in June this year and they termed the ongoing construction facilities as being of international stature and hence fit for holding national and international matches of various sporting events.”
“Currently, 55% of the ICS construction is complete, including the pavilion, general stand, media area, hospitality, catering, VIP players’ stand, practice cricket pitch, parking spaces and two-tier audience gallery.” he said.
An independent sports department was established in the state in January 2024 with the objective of promoting sporting events and sportspersons.
