Odisha CM announces India's largest hockey stadium in Rourkela

The new world-class hockey stadium in Rourkela city is set to host the 2023 FIH Men's Hockey World Cup

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday announced a new world-class hockey stadium in Rourkela city which is set to host the 2023 FIH Men's Hockey World Cup.

The showpiece event will be hosted by Odisha, for a second consecutive time, at two venues, Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.

The Rourkela city stadium would be the biggest stadium for hockey in India with a sitting capacity of 20,000. The stadium along with the allied facilities will be developed as a benchmark for other hockey stadiums around the world. Spread over 15 acres of land, the stadium will be constructed in the Biju Patnaik University of Technology campus, Rourkela.

"As we have announced earlier, Odisha will once again be the proud host of the prestigious Men's Hockey World Cup in 2023," said CM Patnaik in a video message.

"Sundargarh district is our powerhouse of hockey talent. The India team led by players like Dilip Tirkey and Sunita Lakra have brought laurels for the country. As a tribute to the contribution of Sundargarh to Indian Hockey, I would like to announce that we will build a new international level hockey stadium in Rourkela with a seating capacity of 20,000," the Odisha CM added.

The steel city of Rourkela in Sundergarh district of Odisha is gearing up to host the tournament at a scale equal to the 2018 edition.

Recently, a high-level team including senior officials from the state government, International Federation of Hockey (FIH), Department of Sports and Youth Services and Hockey India had visited Rourkela. And reviewed the infrastructure and allied facilities in the city to host the prestigious and much-awaited hockey event.

The work to develop synthetic hockey turf in each of the 17 blocks of Sundargarh district has already commenced.