GIS to harness opportunities in sports sector

As the Uttar Pradesh government headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath prepares to make the state a sports hub in the country, the government is eyeing massive investment in the sector through the Global Investors’ Summit, which will be held in Lucknow from Friday.

The Sports department of the Uttar Pradesh government will be organising a session titled ‘Harnessing opportunities in the sports sector in Uttar Pradesh’ at hangar ‘Bhardwaj’ during the summit on February 12 from 11:45 am to 13:30 pm where many eminent personalities will discuss various sports opportunities in UP.

The session will witness a fruitful interaction among all the stakeholders in the sports sector. It will also provide a detailed overview of the department’s policy as well as appeal for investment and engagement opportunities with investors and industry.

According to the country’s well-known brokerage firm Anand Rathi Investment Banking, the sports sector currently has huge potential. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Khelo India’ policy and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s efforts have made this slogan a reality in UP,” Rathi said.

Notably, Meerut has an embedded history of sports. The sports industry will grow from $27 billion to $100 billion over the next five years (2027), according to the brokerage firm. Considering these opportunities, the state government wants to make UP a sports hub and the GIS-2023 is likely to contribute significantly to this.

Abhinav Bindra: Olympic gold medalist and founder Abhinav Bindra Targeting Performance; Carlos Ezpeleta: chief strategy officer, Dorna (Moto GP); Udit Seth: founder TransStadia; Suresh Raina: Indian cricketer; Yannick Colaco: founder Fancode, Benedicte de la Briere, World Bank; Paul V Jensen: managing director European Business and Technology Center; Dwight Howard: NBA athlete; Nasser Hussain: CEO, Rugby India; Dr Nidhi Pundhir: representative from the British High Commission; Siddharth Upadhyay: vice-president, Global CSR, HCL Foundation; and Rushdee Warley: CEO, Inspire Institute of Sport, will be some of  the prominent speakers at the session.

The history of Uttar Pradesh has been glorious in terms of sports. Players like Major Dhyan Chand (hockey), KD Singh Babu (hockey), Mohammed Shahid (hockey), SM Ali Saeed (hockey), Narendra Hirwani (cricketer) and Syed Modi (badminton) are among the champions who belonged to the state. At present, international cricketers Suresh Raina, Kuldeep Yadav, Olympic medalist Lalit Upadhyay and others are enriching the state’s glorious sports history.

Furthermore, the Yogi Adityanath government has given sports and athletes in Uttar Pradesh a golden present and a bright future. UP is steadily becoming the hub of sports and is all set to host two major sports events this year: the ‘Khelo India University Games 2023’ and the ‘MotoGP’. Chief Minister Yogi has already announced that the state has adopted wrestling and badminton.

“All of this has resulted in the creation of a magnificent sports ecosystem in UP today. The Sports department is also prepared to make every possible contribution to the prosperity of Uttar Pradesh through the Global Investors’ Summit (GIS), establishing new dimensions and making UP a trillion-dollar economy,” Additional Chief Secretary (Sports) Navneet Sehgal said.

He stated that Indian players’ international performance has been very impressive in recent years. Players from Uttar Pradesh have also demonstrated their abilities at the national level. After the global COVID-19 pandemic, people have become more aware of fitness, which has resulted in an increase in demand for sports and fitness products.

“As an outcome of all of this, the possibilities for this sector expand even further. The GIS will undoubtedly be a tremendous boost to the sports sector. It is expected that the HCL Foundation, Dwight Howard, Rugby India Dream Foundation, Fancode, Moto GP, TransStadia, Abhinav Bindra Targeting Performance, European Business and Technology Center, Vistara, University Sportech, JSW Sports, and HAL State Sports and Fitness will sign memorandums of understanding (MoUs) for big investments in the industry,” he said.

Sehgal said: “The Yogi government has been proactive in promoting and implementing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Khelo India athlete development initiative, as well as developing its own sports development strategies. It is our goal to see UP at the forefront in the sports sector as well along with other fields. The GIS will be helpful based on the existing ecosystem.”