CHENNAI: The preparations to establish an international cricket stadium in Coimbatore are on the fast track, with the State government all set to appoint the technical consultant this week itself and aiming to prepare the blueprint for the proposed facility within two months.
Climbing down from the initial plan to set up a cricket stadium with the largest seating capacity in the country, the focus is now on developing a modern facility that would offer a world-class experience for viewers and players, like the famed ones in Australia and South Africa.
Highly placed government sources told DT Next that a technical consultant would be appointed to prepare the stadium design this week. "The technical bid is over and the evaluation of the financial bid is nearing completion. The work order will be issued any time this week," sources privy to the bid finalisation process revealed.
"We expect the technical consultant to prepare the design and the detailed project report (DPR) in a month to 50 days - or even earlier. We are confident the design consultant will ready a workable plan for the cricket stadium by the end of December," said a top-level bureaucrat.
Subsequently, a delegation from the State Sports Department and the technical consultant are expected to visit a couple of cricket stadia, most likely a facility in Australia or South Africa and one of the modern ones within India.
The project cost would be worked out based on the DPR prepared by the technical consultant.
The Sports Department has planned to develop the stadium on a 20-acre land, which includes eight acres for parking. The earmarked land belongs to the Prison Department, which has a 200-acre land parcel not far from the bypass road near Ondipudur off Coimbatore city.
The government, which has yet to finalise the seating capacity, is understood to have compromised on its idea of developing the stadium with the largest seating capacity in the country.
Instead, the department is now considering a modern cricketing facility with a world-class viewing experience to the audience, indoor net and fielding practice facilities besides infrastructure like gymnasium and spa to support fitness-related activities of the cricketers.