Telangana CM Revanth Reddy calls for upgrade of facilities at all stadia in Hyderabad

Infrastructure is the key for the growth and development of sports. To realise his vision of making Telangana into a sporting hub, chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday held a review meeting of the sports department.

In the early 2000s the growth in sports was driven by the initiatives taken by then chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu. He was the brain behind the construction of stadia like the GMC Balayogi Stadium in Gachibowli, Saroornagar Indoor Stadium and Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy Indoor Stadium in Yousufguda and the Cycling Velodrome in the Osmania University campus to name a few.

These stadia helped in promoting sports activities and raised a generation of sportspersons who did well for the state as well as the nation. However, things went down after the split of the state.

Revanth Reddy, however, is keen on making the state into a sports hub and is keen on developing proper infrastructure. In addition to renovating the Gachibowli outdoor stadium, the CM on Monday suggested that care should be taken to ensure that there is an indoor stadium, university complex, hostel buildings, all types of sports grounds and other facilities required for training within the stadium premises.

Revanth examines various designs

Revanth Reddy examined various designs related to the structures and made several suggestions to the officials regarding the designs.

He also instructed officials to modernize the city’s iconic Lal Bahadur Stadium, Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy Stadium, and Saroor Nagar Stadium to meet future needs, training, and be useful for holding competitions.

Telangana CM Revanth Reddy meets the Uruguay hockey players at the GMC Balayogi Hockey Stadium in Gachibowli, Hyderabad, on Sunday

The chief minister suggested that plans should be prepared with the aim of hosting the Olympics and Commonwealth Games in Telangana and showcasing the potential of Telangana athletes at the Olympics.

In this regard, he suggested that the state should have a sports university with all facilities to train athletes with the aim producing Olympic champions.

Discussion on creating facilities at Young India Sports University with international standards, setting up grounds for all types of sports was also held at the meeting.

Ministers Vakiti Srihari, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, CM advisor Vem Narender Reddy, Sports Authority of Telangana State (SATS) chairman Shivsena Reddy, government chief secretary Ramakrishna Rao, CM principal secretaries Srinivasa Raju, Seshadri, SATS MD Dr Soni Baladevi, Young India Sports University VC Dr G Kishore, and senior officials were present.