Excited for the 2023 Hockey Men's World Cup? The hockey cradle of India – Sundargarh district – is going global next year thanks to the initiative of making steel city of Odisha one of the host cities of the World Cup scheduled in January 2023. The state government is constructing country's largest hockey stadium in Rourkela for the biggest hockey festival. Take a look.
By: Devbrat Patnaik
Last updated: 12 May 2022, 05:22 PM IST
For the WC 2023, govt is not just upgrading the existing Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, but also building a new hockey stadium in Rourkela - 'Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium', named after freedom fighter Birsa Munda.
Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium, likely to be the country’s largest, is taking shape in the steel city of Rourkela.
Work for the Birsa Munda stadium is underway in full swing despite the scorching weather conditions.
The stadium complex is spread over 35 acres of land (stadium on 15 acres) on the campus of the Biju Patnaik University of Technology in Rourkela.
The stadium will have state-of-the-art facilities, a tunnel connecting the changing room and practice pitch along with a fitness centre and a hydro-therapy pool around the pitch.
The aim of building this world-class stadium in Rourkela is to carry forward the hockey legacy of Sundargarh. The stadium will have a capacity of over 20000 spectators, almost 5000 more than the capacity of Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar.