Rajgir’s international sports stadium, academy may be inaugurated on Bihar Diwas

The culture minister said the stadium will be the first of its kind in Bihar and is likely to be inaugurated on March 22, 2022, when Bihar will celebrate its 110th formation day

The state government is aiming to inaugurate the sports academy- cum- international stadium being developed over more than 90-acres at Rajgir on March 22 next year on the occasion of Bihar Diwas, the state culture minister said. The upcoming facility in Bihar’s heritage city is estimated to cost ₹740 crore.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and the then deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi look at the model for the sports academy and stadium at Rajgir three years ago. (HT Photo)

“Almost 60% work of the international stadium- cum- sports academy has already been done and the agency working on the project has been asked to finish the remaining work before March 2022,” Dr Alok Ranjan, culture minister said on Saturday after visiting the construction site with a team of officials.

He said the facility will be the first of its kind in the state and is likely to be inaugurated on March 22, 2022, when Bihar will celebrate its 110th formation day. “We want to host some sports activities at this stadium on that day,” the minister said. He added that the contractor has been asked to engage more workers to achieve the target

The stadium has been designed to house 40,000 spectators at a time and is divided into six blocks and will support 25 games including cricket, football and swimming. Besides, it will have a hall to seat 1,500 persons, a sports library, a well-equipped hospital, a wellness centre, motivational centre, sports stores and other basic amenities, officials said. The sports academy will have office and accommodation facilities for officials, students, players and coaches.

The minister said the swimming pool at the stadium will be Olympic standard.

The minister added that special attention was being given to ensuring basic amenities like drinking water. “As the stadium has the capacity to seat 40,000 spectators, proper drinking water facility for the entire gathering is very important. Apart from the visitors, the players and their coaches will also be there during the games,” he said.