Finance
Odisha’s High-Performance Centre portfolio will now include two new disciplines. On Wednesday, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Odisha and Tata Steel to build High Performance Centres in Olympic sports, Archery, and Sport Climbing in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Odisha Tata Steel Adventure Foundation Sport Climbing Academy and Odisha Tata Archery Academy will be created in Bhubaneswar for the development of athletes in the disciplines. Archery Regional Development Centers will also be established, and both academies will run grassroots activities.
These HPCs, led by professionals, will recognize and nurture unique talent, enabling them to compete at national and worldwide levels, as well as provide world-class infrastructure and training facilities. These facilities will act as meeting places for prospective athletes to realize their full potential.
These academies will feature players scouted from state sports hostels, as well as state and national level programs. Athletes will also have access to the sporting & Youth Services Department’s sporting facilities for holistic development, which will include the Kalinga Stadium’s gymnasium, swimming pool, and India’s largest sports science center.
On the occasion, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, said, “We are delighted to collaborate with Tata Steel in this endeavour. Our partnership with Tata Steel for Hockey High Performance Centre has been exemplary and producing encouraging results. We have a huge potential for Archery and Sports Climbing in Odisha and in the country and with this new association we will be able to collectively contribute towards creating a conducive environment for athletes in these disciplines.”
Secretary Vineel Krishna represented the Sports & Youth Services Department while, Tata Steel was represented by Chanakya Chaudhary, Vice President, Corporate Services Tata Steel Ltd. and Chairman Tata Steel Adventure Foundation.
Odisha has developed a bouquet of HPCs at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. This is a one-of-a-kind collaboration model between a state and a corporation that has produced outstanding athletes in hockey, football, swimming, athletics, gymnastics, sports science, shooting, weightlifting, and now archery and sport climbing.
