Odisha plans to bring sports goods and equipment manufacturing policy

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government is planning to bring sports goods and equipment manufacturing policy, informed an official on Thursday.

To attract the leading sports goods and equipment manufacturers, the Odisha government is now keen on making the sports goods manufacturing sector a priority sector and bringing a fresh policy to attract the sports, fitness and wellness sector companies.

The policy would lay out attractive incentives for sports goods manufacturers and exporters who would like to invest in Odisha, the official said.

Speaking at a webinar on “Odisha – The sports destination of India”, Industries secretary Hemant Sharma highlighted the sporting culture, infrastructure and future goals of the state.

Leading the sports ecosystem in the country, Odisha has hosted several international sporting events including Asian athletics championships 2017, men’s hockey world cup 2018 and the ongoing Hockey men’s junior world cup 2021.

To facilitate the sportspersons, Odisha has built 11 high-performance centres including Abhinav Bindra targeting performance center, Odisha reliance foundation athletics high-performance center, Odisha JSW swimming high-performance center in 10 sports disciplines.

It has also built 89 Biju Patnaik indoor stadiums, 20 hockey training centers, 16 sports hostels and 314 rural mini stadiums across the state to empower budding sportspersons.

At the webinar held in association with The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Hemant Sharma has emphasised the state’s infrastructure, stable government and highly skilled workforce and invited to explore the opportunities in the state.

He also invited the participating sports goods manufacturers and exporter association to visit Odisha and explore the opportunities.

Highlighting the geographical position of the state, Sharma has emphasised the importance of the state’s location and how the manufacturers can import raw materials from the south-east Asian countries and cater to the domestic needs in the eastern and northeastern region of the country as well to export to other countries.

Representatives of sports goods manufacturers and exporter association and other sports associations have also participated in the webinar and appreciated the government’s labour policy, power tariffs; which is one of the lowest in the country and enthusiasm in the sports infrastructure.