Guntur: The oldest stadium in the state, BR Stadium in Guntur, will be modernised with an expenditure of Rs 200 crore under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. Minister for sports K. Ravindra, minister for civil supplies P. Pulla Rao and others inspected the stadium on Saturday and reviewed its condition with the officials.
Mr Ravindra said the stadium would be modernised by the end of 2018. "Earlier, BR stadium was a prominent one in the state but it has lost the glory due to negligence of the officials," the minister said. He added the TD government was giving priority to development of sports and said the government sanctioned 8 stadia to eight Assembly constituencies in Guntur district which would be constructed at a cost of Rs 2 crore each.
Mr Pulla Rao said the stadium was constructed in 1967. He said that the state government formulated a sports policy under which sports would be made compulsory for the students. Minister for social welfare N. Ananda Babu said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has decided to develop BR Stadium as per international standards.
Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh vice-chairman and managing director Bangaru Raju gave a PowerPoint presentation on the proposed development. He said a gallery with international standards, food courts, dressing rooms, tennis and other courts were among the facilities that would be provided.
Guntur municipal commissioner Ch. Anuradha, Guntur district collector K. Sasidhar, Guntur East and West MLAs, Md Mustafa and M. Venugopala Reddy were present.
