The newly built hockey stadium in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 24: The state is all set to have its own franchise in the second edition of the Hockey India League (HIL), a professional league for field hockey competition in India, scheduled to begin from January 23.

The HIL has five franchise teams and a vacant slot for a sixth team. The bidding for the sixth team of the tournament would be held in December. An official of the state sports and youth services department said the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) would create a “special purpose vehicle” — a separate body for the purpose of facilitating a franchise to represent the state.

“The sports and youth services department has accepted a proposal in this regard, and the final approval from the chief minister is awaited. Our state has produced a number of international hockey players. So, it should have its own franchise in the HIL,” said minister of sports and youth services department Ramesh Chandra Majhi. Though the team’s name is yet to be finalised, he said it would start either with Kalinga or Utkal.

While the HIL first edition included five franchises of Ranchi, Delhi, Punjab, Lucknow and Mumbai, the sixth franchise went unsold. Each team consists of 24 players, including 10 foreign players. But, the final 11 can feature maximum four foreign players.

The department official said a bidder had to spend around Rs 6 crore to buy a franchise and another Rs 3.95 crore for player auction. Similarly, another Rs 2 crore will be spent on administration, tour and other expenses. “A franchise needs to spend around Rs 12 crore for taking part in the HIL. However the organisers are expected to return around Rs 3 crore earned through sale of media rights,” he said.

“If any profit is generated through having a state-based franchise, we will reinvest it to develop hockey in Odisha,” said MCL chairman-cum-managing director A.N. Sahay.

The state government is, however, planning to rope in other public sector undertakings (PSUs) and private corporate houses as sponsors. “The department is planning to allow a maximum of 16 logos to be displayed on the team jersey. We will rope in the PSUs and the private houses that will get promotion through the displayed logos,” he said.

On August 27, the government had held a meeting with the HIL officials to explore the idea of having a state-based franchise. Similarly, a four-member delegation of Hockey India, the organiser of the league, had also visited the synthetic turf hockey stadium on September 28 and expressed their satisfaction over the set up.

The stadium was built for Rs 19.94 crore with a seating capacity of 6,000. The pink and blue combination of the turf makes it attractive during live telecast of matches.