Gujarat has found a prominent place in the world of sports under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and there was no game for which an international quality competition cannot be held in the state, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday. (More Sports News)
He was addressing a gathering at the inaugural function of the 36th National Games being hosted by Gujarat.
"I would like to tell the people all over the country that under the leadership of Modiji, Gujarat has broken all records in building sports infrastructure in the last one decade. There is no game left for which international quality competition cannot be organised in Gujarat," he said.
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He said that the sports city coming up adjacent to the world's biggest cricket stadium, the Narendra Modi Stadium, will make Ahmedabad the city with perhaps the world's biggest stadium and sports city.
"Modiji has worked to increase the budget for (national) games from Rs 866 crore in 2014 to Rs 2000 crore in 2022," he said.
The number of medals won by Indian players in various games, including Olympics and Asian Games, has gone up significantly, he added.
The 36th National Games Gujarat 2022, to be held between September 29 and October 12, was officially launched at the EKA Arena TransStadia here on Sunday evening in the presence of eminent dignitaries from the world of politics and sport.
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The curtain-raiser event witnessed the unveiling of the Games anthem and mascot, as well as a custom-curated website and mobile application.
Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot and Bhavnagar will play hosts, while the track cycling event will be held in New Delhi.
An estimated 7,000 athletes from 28 states and eight Union Territories are expected to take part across 36 disciplines that include most traditional Olympic sports.
Indigenous sports like mallakhamb and yogasana will also feature in the National Games for the first time.
The Games were last held in Kerala in 2015.
