Union Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur said country has the potential to become sports super power of the world like it is becoming an economic power. He said that it is the rural India from where the players are doing well nowadays in sports and the country needs more trainers and facilities there.
Anurag Singh Thakur was speaking at a plenary session on sports in global investor Summit in Lucknow. The session was named as “Decoding the investment potential of the sports sector in Uttar Pradesh and its role in the one trillion economy”.
Mr Thakur said that states and centre have to work together to create more facilities for the players and this way more investment will also come to the country. Sports Minister said that the focus of the government towards sports sector has changed a lot in last few years. He said that the government in the last year appointed 450 coaches and will hire more coaches this year also.
Renowned sports persons shared the Dias in the session which included celebrated cricketer Suresh Raina, Olympian Shooter Abhinav Bindra and representatives of Sports industry.
Shooter Abhinav Bindra said during the session that his company Abhinav Bindra foundation will establish a sporty training and injury centre in UP. Carlos Ezpeleta, Chief Sporting Officer from MoToGP also addressed the session. His company will invest 400 crores rupees in UP.
Cricketer Suresh Raina rememberd his old days in state and said, there is a great potential in the sports and the policies of central government are supporting the sector.
Mentioning the achievements and the initiatives taken by State Government in sports sector, the Additional Chief Secretary of Sports department of state Navneet Sehgal said that an international cricket stadium with a capacity of thirty thousand people will be constructed in Varanasi. He said that UP government has come up with a dedicated Sports policy and is also planing to promote Private partnership in Sports infrastructure and training. He said that 30 thousand playing grounds have been identified in the villages of Uttar Pradesh to boost sports activities.