Cricket stars to join PM Modi in laying foundation of Rs 450 crore stadium in Varanasi

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Many former Indian cricket stars will descend on Varanasi to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi in laying the foundation of an international cricket stadium in his parliamentary constituency in a glittering ceremony on Saturday. PM Modi will be on a day-long tour of his constituency.

The design of the proposed stadium is based on the attributes of Lord Shiva and the ghats of Kashi. The roof tops will be in the shape of a crescent while flood light poles would be designed as tridents, galleries will take the shape of the steps of Varanasi ghats, huge replicas of bael leaves in metallic frames will be placed at different places across the stadium and the pavilion and VIP lounge building would be in the shape of a damru, said Varanasi district administration officials.

As per Varanasi divisional commissioner Kaushal Raj Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri, Madan Lal, Gundappa Vishwanath, Karsan Ghavri, BCCI chief Roger Binny, vice president Rajiv Shukla and secretary Jay Shah will take part in the ceremony.

For the project worth Rs 450 crore, the state government has already spent Rs 120 crore on land acquisition and the rest Rs 330 crore would be spent by the BCCI on the construction to be done by L&T. As per official sources, the facility was expected to have a seating capacity of 30,000. It is likely to be ready in two years.

The state government has also issued directives to the Varanasi administration to finalise the planned development of the area in the vicinity of the proposed stadium by making provisions for hotels, restaurants and mega commercial activities around it.