PRAYAGRAJ Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said here on Friday that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the nation was reaching new heights in different fields and also excelling in sports in world level events and competitions.

Speaking at the valedictory function of the golden jubilee celebrations of Amitabh Bachchan Sports Complex here Yogi said that a city known as a centre of learning, religious importance and a seat to ensure justice to all was also making strides in the field of sports now. “I promise all support on behalf of the state and the central government to help Prayagraj establish itself as a major sports centre, offering world class facilities and producing world class sportspersons,” he said.

Highlighting the fact that under the Prayagraj Smart City Mission, a whopping ₹100 crore was being spent on developing sporting infrastructure and facilities in the city, the CM said that ₹60 crore was set to be invested in developing facilities at the Amitabh Bachchan Sport Complex alone. “I am happy to share that for developing sports facilities, an amount of ₹10.16 crore has been allocated for government-run and government aided schools and colleges of Prayagraj, ₹10.86 crore for Allahabad University, ₹7.73 crore for Chandra Shekhar Azad Park, ₹4.25 crore for open air gyms and multi activity play systems, ₹2.80 crore for multi activity play systems for kids at 60 sites and ₹2 crore for rowing and kayaking infrastructure under the Prayagraj Smart City Mission,” he said.

Citing the steps taken to promote sports, the CM said that the state government was setting up playgrounds and open-air gyms in all villages, besides constructing stadia and mini-stadia at development block level across the state.

Supreme Court judge Justice Vikram Nath said that the Amitabh Bachchan Sports Complex (Mayo Hall) was set up in 1972 and today offered facilities in seven sports, including badminton, table tennis, lawn tennis, squash, volleyball, basket-ball and billiards. “There is a lot of land available near the complex which if allotted to Amitabh Bachchan Sports Complex would allow it to expand the range and quality of sporting facilities being provided by it and also construct hostels for budding sportspersons of the country. Similarly, the over 100-year-old building of Amitabh Bachchan Sports Complex is in dire need of restoration and I request that steps be taken in this regard. I urge the state government and chief minister Yogi Adityanath to help the Sports Complex grow further,” he said.

The CM also felicitated select senior players, including Damyanti Tambey (badminton), Suhas LY (para badminton), Abhinav Singh (squash) and Dileep Tripathi (squash).

Those present on the occasion included deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak, UP cabinet minister Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’, UP minister of state (independent charge) Girish Chandra Yadav, MPs Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Vinod Sonkar and Keshari devi Patel, former UP cabinet minister Sidharth Nath Singh and MLAs Rajmani Kol, Harshvardhan Bajpai, Guru Prasad Maurya, Praveen Patel, Piyush Ranjan Nishad and Surendra Chaudhary, MLC Nirmala Paswan and mayor Abhilasha Gupta ‘Nandi’ among others.