Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], December 23 : Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur inaugurated three new facilities at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) National Centre of Excellence at Bengaluru on Saturday.
These three new facilities included an eight-lane synthetic athletic track and a 300-bed men's hostel. Both of these are developed under the Centre's Khelo India scheme. Also, a 330-bed women's hostel was also inaugurated.
All these facilities were built at a cost of Rs 69.35 crores.
Anurag took to X (formerly Twitter) to share the news with the nation.
"It is a moment of pride to inaugurate three new facilities dedicated to the nation at National Centre of Excellence @SAI_Bengaluru. Inaugurated a 300-bedded Men's Hostel and an 8-lane Synthetic Athletic Track, both developed under the Khelo India Scheme by the Government of India. Additionally, unveiled a 330-Bedded Women's Hostel. These facilities were built at a total cost of Rs69.35 crore. These new additions will significantly enhance the training ecosystem of the Centre, a pivotal hub for sports like athletics, hockey, para-sports and the training ground of National Women's & Men's Hockey teams, @manpreetpawar07, @savitahockey, @avinash3000m, @nishad_hj, @Shailisingh012, @Priyanka_Goswam among others," tweeted Anurag.
https://twitter.com/ianuragthakur/status/1738499685017370897
Later in an address at the venue, the Sports Minister said that the Centre is trying to provide great facilities to players. He also expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for increasing the sports budget by three times over the last nine years.
"I can only say that we are trying our best to provide good facilities. I am grateful to Prime Minister Modi who increased the sports budget 3 times in the last 9 years. As the Sports Minister of India, I can proudly say, if you look at the 2 years from the Tokyo Olympics till now. We have won the highest medals in the Tokyo Olympics, Paralympics, Deaflympics, then Commonwealth Games and now in the Asian Games and para-Asian Games. This is the best performance ever by Indians in the field of sports," said the minister.
https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1738488300514816266
Later, he also made a visit to the Lakshyan Academy of Sports.
https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1738508270598566399
"I visited the Lakshyan Academy of Sports, it is a beautiful and new academy, for sportspersons, it is as per the international standards...if we can have two-three academies of this standard in each state, nobody can stop India from becoming a sporting superpower. On one hand the Centre is putting in all the efforts and on the other hand, if private people, corporate and federations can come forward, we can do wonders," said Anurag.
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