Third spiffy cricket venue in Indian State UP

Article posted by Coliseum, March 23^rd, 2023

Image: ICC Cricket

A Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) team comprising its Vice-President Rajiv Shukla and Secretary Jai Shah recently visited the Ganjari area in Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh, India), the site earmarked for the new Rs 300 crore state-of-the-art cricket stadium.

‘The Times of India’ stated that the team is learnt to have approved the site for the BCCI-funded project for which land will be provided by the Government on lease. It will be the State of Uttar Pradesh’s third international stadium after the 32,000-capacity Green Park Stadium in Kanpur and the 50,000-capacity Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow and the first in the Purvanchal region.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body of cricket in India with its headquarter situated at the cricket centre near the 33,500-capacity Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

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‘The Times of India’ further stated that the stadium will not only cater to the needs of the people of Varanasi (City in Uttar Pradesh), but will also draw crowds from the neighboring State of Bihar.

Efforts are underway to complete other formalities related to the project including the appointment of project management consultant and the company that would execute the project within the next two months in order to organize the groundbreaking ceremony within the next three months. The Uttar Pradesh Government has released a fund of Rs 120 crore for the acquisition of 31 acres of land from the farmers. The BCCI will construct the stadium at a cost of Rs 300 crore, officials said.

After the spot inspection, the Divisional Commissioner of Varanasi, Kaushal Raj Sharma, who accompanied the team, said, “Shukla and Shah, in the presence of the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) office-bearers including Yudhvir Singh and Uday Sinha inspected the site where 31 acres of land has already been purchased from the farmers with a fund of Rs 120 crore released by the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Government. The BCCI and UPCA authorities were satisfied with the site visit. The land in the Ganjari area will be given to the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) on a 30-year lease by the UP Government.”

Added Sharma, “The lease period can be extended up to 90 years. The BCCI will fund this project for the construction of the stadium at a cost of Rs 300 crore. For the proposed stadium with 30,000 seating capacity, the BCCI will select a project management consultant and contractor for the construction work who have expertise in this field through tender process. This process may take up to two months to be completed. Therefore, the BCCI and UPCA officials decided to hold the foundation laying ceremony of the proposed stadium after completion of the process so that work on the project is started immediately after the ceremony is over.”

Kanpur-based the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA), formerly the United Provinces Cricket Team, is the governing body of cricket activities in the Uttar Pradesh State of India and the Uttar Pradesh cricket team. It is affiliated to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

During their stay at the site in Ganjari, the BCCI and UPCA authorities also discussed the issue of widening the existing roads. They were assured that once the project would come on floor, necessary measures for the upgradation of roads would be initiated.

In May 2022, the State Government paved the way for the construction of an international cricket stadium in the Lok Sabha constituency of the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi (read Varanasi) by making budgetary provision to purchase land around 15 kilometers from the City at Gunjari village in Raja Talab Tehsil on Ring Road.

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