With the aim to give fillip to sports in Uttar Pradesh, the Akhilesh Yadav government signed a MoU with Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association for handing over the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur to the UPCA, while another memorandum of understanding was signed to speed up construction of international standard cricket stadium in lucknow. Both the MoUs were signed on Wednesday. The MoU for Green Park stadium was signed between Principal Secretary (Sports) Dr Anita Bhatnagar Jain and UPCA secretary Rajiv Shukla while the second MoU was signed between UPCA and Ekana Sports City, the developer constructing the lucknow Stadium on PPP model.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who was present on the occasion, said that Uttar Pradesh would soon turn into a sporting hub “as there would be international sporting facilities on a par with the best in the country”. “There is a mix of tradition with modernity. The Green Park Stadium is the oldest in the country and with the UP Government signing the MoU to allow UPCA to use Green Park, we are moving towards construction of a new stadium in lucknow,” he said.
Yadav said that cricket was the most popular game of the country, and now the State would have two international standard stadiums for it. “The UP government is keen to promote sports. Probably, it is the first State which has increased the cash award for the medal winners in international meets, including Commonwealth and Asian games and Olympics,” he said. UPCA secretary and Rajya Sabha member Rajiv Shukla said that if flood lights were made available, the Green Park Stadium could get international T20 matches.
“It is unfortunate that small States have 3-4 international standard stadiums but UP still has one stadium to organise cricket matches. After these MoUs, UP will also be able to vie for international matches,” he said. Hailing the efforts of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Shukla said the UPCA was trying for two decades to take over control of the Green Park Stadium. “It is the Chief Minister’s love for sports that has made it possible,” he said.
Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan said that the State government had initiated project to construct a multi-purpose stadium in lucknow that would have all facilities under one roof. The lucknow international stadium would have a capacity of 50,000 spectators and would be constructed at a cost of Rs 400 crore. The stadium would be completed by October 2016. The clauses of agreements in both the MoUs are same. The agreement will be for 30 years. The UPCA will pay one crore rupee annual rent for the Green Park Stadium and maintenance of the stadium will be done by it.
It will also make payments for electricity, security and stands maintenance. Besides, for every international and national matches, the UPCA will pay additional amount. The UP government will share 25 per cent of the profit made by the UPCA. The clause says that the UPCA will be allowed to use the stadium only for cricketing purpose. However, during international and national matches, the UP government will get control of the VVIP pavilion, which has around 7,000 seats. The agreement will be reviewed after every 10 years and the annual rent will also be increased at that time.