Baripada, Dec. 26: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today inaugurated three sports projects here via videoconferencing.

The projects are - a multigym facility, a squash court and a tennis court. These projects have been set up at a cost of nearly Rs 1.5 crore.

The squash court built on the indoor stadium premises for Rs 42.50 lakh is the first of its kind in the state. "This is the first squash court in the state. The tennis court, too, is of international standard," said Mayurbhanj district collector Rajesh Prabhakar Patil.

The multi gym has been set up in the main stadium and the synthetic tennis court on the Baripada Club premises. A meeting was held today at which sports minister Sudam Marandi and Deputy Speaker Sananda Marndi were present.

The Mayurbhanj District Athletics' Association had taken an interest in the projects and funds under the Backward Region Grant Fund as well as local area development funds of MPs and MLAs were pooled for their development. "These are dream projects and have been successfully completed," said Mayurbhanj District Athletics' Association secretary Kishore Biswal.