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ShareMumbai: India could make the Big Leap into becoming a sporting superpower if the ambitious project announced in the city on Wednesday reaches fruition. Promoted by TransStadia, a company `championing the cause of Indian sport', this project envisages creation of world class infrastructure in major cities across the country which would allow rural and metropolitan India to actualize its sports potential, while also remaining financially viable.
The project blueprint indicates 14 stadia over five years, with the first one operational within 18-24 months. "This initiative will ensure that sports is not only confined to the cities and also that rural India will play an important role eventually leading to rural development," Harish Sheth, chairman of TransStadia, said.
The first step towards this objective is holding the Indian International Sports Summit to be held on March 24-25, 2010, where, according to the managing director and CEO of TransStadia, Udit Sheth, the best minds in the business would work out a roadmap for the future. The first summit has a peppy theme: India, get set, go!
TransStadia hopes to marry government initiative with private enterprise and sporting expertise to kickstart a sports revolution through the creation of multi-purpose stadia without depending on government largesse to support it. A formula has been worked out, according to Udit, to monetize the infrastructure by making it available for a host of other activities and services.
Lok Sabha member from Mumbai Priya Dutt extended support to the project. "Being part of the government, my commitment is to support sports in every way. We have a stable and progressive government in place. I'm positive of support from the government. The first step is of me sitting here at the summit," the young MP from Bandra said.
For the press conference, 12 Arjuna awardees and Olympians were among those who assembled at a city hotel.
A lively panel discussion on the future of Indian sport was also held. Among the panelists were Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh, 1984 gold medallist and six-time Olympian Tessa Sanderson from Great Britain, squash sensation Ritwik Bhattacharya, former hockey stalwart MM Somaya, Olympian Adille Sumariwalla, entrepreneur Arun Arora and DNA editor-at-large Ayaz Memon.
Welcoming the initiative, Sumariwalla said, "I am delighted about the IISS and its endeavor to bring a sea change in India's sporting industry. I understand the challenges as well as the opportunities that India has in the field of sport."
However, Elisa Nelson, a hockey Olympian, hoped that the project would not fizzle out like many initiative of the past.
"I hope this works. A lot of other initiatives have been launched and lost steam along the way. I hope by March we have something really concrete to move forward from," she said.
