KOCHI: The Kerala government has honoured former Indian national football captain IM Vijayan by constructing a 14-acre sports complex named after him, which will also include a world-class football stadium in his hometown of Thrissur, The Hindu reports.
The project was initially proposed in the 2016-17 fiscal year by the state government-owned Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). While it has been budgeted at Rs 705.6 million, KIIFB has contributed with Rs 560.1 million of the funds already. It could indicate that the remaining amount could be sought from a corporate or a venture capitalist, making the prospect of a public-private partnership very likely.
Besides the football stadium, the complex will reportedly have a synthetic turf, gallery, pavilion building, indoor stadium, swimming pool, tennis court, administration block and a rainwater harvesting facility.
India’s first technical consultancy organisation (TCO), KITCO Ltd. has been appointed to construct the complex under the supervision of the state’s Engineering Department of Sports and Youth Affairs.
Kerala Sports Minister EP Jayarajan told The Hindu at the inauguration of the foundation stone of the complex that the government had marked Rs 7 billion for developing sport infrastructure in the state since coming to power in 2016.
