Ahmedabad: The city is buzzing with sports activities. The Asian Weightlifting Championships has just finished. A Grandmasters chess tournament and Asian Para Archery Championships are lined up this year. More international competitions are on the pipeline as federations go all out to pitch for hosting international events, driven by the government’s push to promote India as a global sporting destination.
Work is proceeding at a fast pace on new sports infrastructure projects coming up in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar for the 2030 Commonwealth Games, with the ambition to host the 2036 Olympics.
Among the major sports projects, the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex has been completed in just three years and is already hosting international competitions.
The other two major sports infrastructures are the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) Sports Enclave and The Gujarat Police Academy, Karai.
The SVP Sports Enclave will feature an aquatics centre with a seating capacity of 12,000, a tennis centre (capacity 24,000) and a multipurpose arena that can seat 18,000 spectators. It will be fully operational by 2029. The SVP Sports Enclave spans 335 acres and encompasses the existing Narendra Modi Stadium.
The Karai centre is spread over 143 acres and will have a track and field stadium with a 50,000 seating capacity, besides an indoor arena and high-performance centre, and a venue for shooting with indoor and outdoor ranges and with a capacity of 4,000.
“Both developments are progressing in phased timelines, with key facilities expected to be completed between 2028 and 2029,” said a Sports Authority of Gujarat official, sharing details of the sports infrastructure development plan. “These two significant infrastructure projects are a part of the city’s broader urban development goals,” the official added.
The VSS Complex, built in 30 acres, has a multipurpose indoor arena with a seating capacity of 5,200. It hosted the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships last year. The venue also features an aquatics centre where the Asian Aquatics Championships was held. It also houses the Sports Authority of India’s National Centre of Excellence for volleyball, basketball and wushu. The complex was built at a cost of nearly ₹800 crore.
“This Enclave is a world class facility. It started in May 2022 and was constructed at a rapid pace with 1,100 workers in three years,” said Bhaumik Oza, administrator at the VSS Complex.
“We don’t know which sports this venue will host but we are ready. It is to be decided by Commonwealth Sport (CS) and the Indian Olympic Association. The CS officials inspected the facilities and were satisfied,” he said.
Other sports facilities too are coming up. A hockey venue has also been proposed in Gandhinagar.
The World Police and Fire Games, with more than 10,000 competitors from 72 countries in 65 disciplines, will be organized here next year and will be the first big organisational test.
Existing training and competition infrastructure at Vijayi Bharat Foundation (VBF) is also being refurbished. A new high-performance centre, a residential training facility accommodating 544 athletes, and a “ready-to-use satellite village” with 10,000 rooms is being built on the premises of a skill-based university.
“With such a big ecosystem we will be ready to host any Games. All our projects have a sustainable legacy. So, in terms of hosting events like CWG and Olympics, we will be ready,” said CEO of VBF, Aditya Awasthi.
