Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday dedicated the newly built Birsa Munda Hockey stadium in the steel city of Rourkela to the people eight days ahead of the opening of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup. The tournament is set to begin on January 13.

Naveen also announced that each player of the Indian Hockey team will get Rs 1 crore if the team wins the world cup.

Naveen, too, interacted with the members of the Indian Hockey team in Rourkela and tweeted, “Glad to meet and interact with Indian Hockey team members at Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela ahead of the Hockey World Cup 2023. Wish all of them very best as they are raring to go and give their best to bring laurels for the country.”

Inaugurating the stadium, Naveen said: “The hockey stadium is the greatest gift of Odisha to the nation. It will help India to emerge as a big force in the field of Hockey to reckon with.”

He also unveiled a book Odisha Re Hockey (Hockey In Odisha). The hockey stadium has come up at an expenditure of Rs 120 crore and was constructed in a record 15 months. He also witnessed an inaugural friendly match between India A and India B teams in the stadium.

Rourkela is the home ground for many hockey players, including the current Hockey India President, Dilip Tirkey. The Odisha government claimed that it is the World’s largest Hockey stadium with more than 20,000 seating capacity.

“It has best-in-class facilities for players and spectators. It’s fully accessible for the differently abled. The world cup village here with 225 brand new rooms provides excellent amenities,” said government officials.

In order to promote hockey, Naveen also inaugurated hockey Astro turfs in 17 blocks of Sundargarh district.