Jamshedpur, Feb. 21: Each district headquarters in the state would soon have indoor and open stadiums.

State sports ministry officials have chalked out such as proposal to promote sports.

The plan to have a stadium in each district comes in the wake of demand for an indoor stadium in Jamshedpur. The arena — to be used for the upcoming National Games — promises adequate infrastructure to promote sports.

The coming up of such infrastructure in every district, state sports ministry officials said, would also help sports associations organise major events. This was not possible till now because infrastructure was lacking in several areas.

The proposal for the stadiums and its budgetary allocations have been forwarded to the cabinet for approval and officials are hopeful of implementation in the next fiscal.

According to the original proposal, indoor stadiums would be first constructed inside open arenas wherever possible.

Places such as Jamshedpur already have open stadiums. So, the department would press for indoor stadiums in such places.

The proposed project is expected to greatly benefit the districts as well as the players who are presently devoid of any such facilities.

Deputy director, sports department, Shekhar Jamuar told The Telegraph: “The stress has been on the promotion of sports by providing proper infrastructure in the rural areas. If the proposal is finalised, we would like to construct stadiums in the blocks in some districts, apart from the headquarters, so that players can be benefited even at the grassroots.”

Though Jamuar declined to divulge the budget for the project, he pointed out that the proposed indoor stadiums would have the provisions for hosting a variety of games under one roof.

While the proposed open stadiums would be equipped to host disciplines including football, athletics and cricket, the indoor stadiums would have provisions for conducting volleyball, badminton and table tennis matches, among others.

Sources said as of now, not many districts can boast of indoor stadiums though many of them have open stadiums.

Sportspersons reacted to the news cautiously.

Many claimed that it was just a government announcement and it would take a long time to shape up, but added that such stadiums would help their cause a lot.

Md Shahid, a handball player, said: “Nowadays, handball events are mostly organised in indoor stadiums. We practise outside but play in an indoor stadium during major events. The difference is quite unnerving and affects our performance,” said Shahid.

Sunil Kumar, another city based player, said: “During the rainy season, it becomes very difficult to practise outside. Players from the districts where infrastructure is not available would greatly be benefited by the project. But it is a government procedure. So let us keep our fingers crossed,” said Kumar.