Koraput: If all goes as planned, Jeypore will become a favourite destination for sports lovers of south Odisha as the state government has decided to make the town a sports hub.

"A mega integrated sports complex will be established at Jeypore and it will be a sporting hub of the southern districts and other some districts of west Odisha, such as Kalahandi and Nuapada," said state sports and youth affairs secretary Vishal Kumar Dev.

As per the blueprint prepared by the state's sports department, the existing stadium at Jeypore, which is spread over 12 acres, will be developed as a sports complex with state-of-the-art facilities.

The new complex will be equipped with a 400-metre running track, a football ground, an indoor stadium, a gymnasium, a 25-metre swimming pool and new lawn tennis and volleyball courts, among other facilities.

It will also have an administrative building, a digitised score board, a viewers' gallery and a players' room.

Around Rs 12 crore to Rs 15 crore will be spent for the sports complex and the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) has been entrusted with the task to prepare the detailed project report.

"Idco has been asked to prepare and submit the detailed project report at the earliest to ensure that construction work begins," Dev said.

"Once completed, the sports department will chalk out plans and take up various sporting activities in the new sports complex," he added.

According to district sports officer Raj Kishore Jena, apart from organising various tournaments, the proposed sports complex will be helpful in grooming youth talents as they will be provided with better infrastructure and quality coaching.

Sports lovers have hailed the state government's decision to convert Jeypore into a sports hub.

"Being a tribal-dominated district, the area is blessed with enormous sporting talent. But, our children often fail at state and national level games as they do not enough scope to train themselves in the absence of infrastructure. The sports complex will go a long way in encouraging children to take up various sports," said secretary of District Athletics Association Rabi Naik.