Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju launches four infrastructure projects at SAI Bangalore

New Delhi: Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday laid the foundation of a synthetic athletics track, a 330-bed girls hostel, kitchen and dining hall along with a gymnasium complex at Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) Bangalore centre. He was joined by KC Narayana Gowda, Sports Minister in the Karnataka government. The synthetic athletic track coming up at the centre is an 8-lane 400m track with two additional straight lanes. It is an IAAF-certified track for Class 1, Category 5. Besides this, the project includes 500m clay track and a 100m sand track for high-performance training. The project is due to be completed by the end of 2022 and at a cost of Rs 13.86 crore under the Khelo India budget. The girls hostel coming up is a Grounds +5 facility with 110 rooms with attached bathrooms with a total built-up area of 7,170 square kms. The project is due to be completed by the end of March 2022 at a cost of Rs 29.46 crore under both National Sports Development Fund and Khelo India budget. The upgradation of the kitchen and dining hall will see the already existing infrastructure upgraded while the kitchen will provide 1500 meals per session. The project is due to be completed by March 2022 at a cost of Rs 2.3 crore under the Khelo India budget. The Sports Minister has inaugurated a new modern gymnasium complex to specifically address the needs of the hockey campers residing at SAI NSSC Bangalore. It will have a modern gym with anti-skid rubber flooring and a variety of strength and conditioning equipment. It will also have a physiotherapy cum massage room and a separate changing area for both men’s and women’s teams. The project will be completed at a cost of Rs 4.41 crore. Also present at the event were regional director, SAI Bengaluru captain Ajay Bahl, Indian men’s hockey captain Manpreet Singh, 23-time world billiards and snooker champion Pankaj Advani and KP Mahadevswamy, CEO, HSCL who will be the project managers and consultants for the project. Leading athletes, including those who have qualified for the Olympics, like Rakshita Raju, KT Irfan, Avinash Sable, Sandeep Kumar, Priyanka Goswami, Bhavna Jat, Sonal Sukhwal as well as coaches Gurmeet Singh and Captain Amrish Kumar, were felicitated at the event.