1K Khelo India Centres to come up across country, says minister

Panipat, December 17

Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday said the Union Government was going to open 1,000 Khelo India Centres across the country till August 15, 2023, of which 750 had got approval so far.

Thakur was interacting with mediapersons after laying the foundation stone of the country’s first integrated high performance centre, along with Union Minister of State Nisith Pramanik, at the northern regional sports centre of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Sonepat for archers.

The minister also interacted with players at the SAI centre and took inputs about facilities from them. He also visited various wings of different sports at the SAI centre. Sonepat MP Ramesh Kaushik was also present during the programme. Thakur said the high performance centre would be constructed at the cost of Rs 40.45 crore. He also inaugurated the new Astroturf, which was constructed at the cost of Rs 4 crore for hockey players.

The minister said after construction of this high performance centre, archers need not go abroad for practices as all facilities would be available for them here. Thakur said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promoted sports by increasing budget two-and-a-half times more.