Ranchi, June 20: Jharkhand High Court today gave its assent for the construction of an international cricket stadium on Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) land.

The Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) will construct the stadium for improving the standards of cricket in the state and projecting the capital as a venue for international matches.

The decision of the high court comes as a big relief for the JSCA, which has been trying for long to acquire Heavy Engineering Corporation’s land for the stadium. However, the cricket association would be paying double the price than an earlier proposal for the land.

HEC had proposed leasing 31.70 acres to the JSCA for the stadium. The land, at Tiril village, was to be leased for Rs 7.5 crores. According to the deal, JSCA was to pay HEC about Rs 25 lakh for an acre.

In today’s directive, the court asked JSCA to pay Rs 50 lakh per acre of HEC land. The court directed the cricket association to also pay an annual rent of Rs 1 lakh to the ailing PSU. HEC will also be given 5 per cent of the proceeds from sale of tickets to matches in the proposed stadium.

The matter had come up before the high court when JSCA filed a petition seeking permission to use HEC land for a stadium. HEC was under heavy losses and its case was in court. The company was ready for the deal but the state government had delayed taking a decision.

Today, the court said Heavy Engineering Corporation need not go to the government for permission to give the land for the stadium.

The proposed arena will evolve as a mega sports complex and house a cricket academy, counsel for HEC said. It will also have centres for development of other sports, the counsel added.