Recently Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) has announced the construction of three international stadiums with a cost of Rs 150 crore each in order to boost cricketing facilities in the state and to hold international matches. In a press conference organized last week, Rajeev Shukla said three cricket stadiums would soon be coming up in Kanpur, Varanasi and Ghaziabad or Agra. He also said that the association is also planning to construct smaller stadiums in small cities like Moradabad, Jaunpur, Azamgarh and other places where national level matches could be played in future. For these construction BCCI would also give a subsidy of Rs 50 crore, said Rajeev Shukla, vice president of BCCI. The UPCA is searching for land in various state centers after the association failed to construct a single stadium in the past 20 years, he added. Lalit Khanna said that Kanpur’s Green Park stadium, which was part of the ‘Modi trust’ owned by two businessman brothers of the city, was in the state government’s hand but was rented to the cricket association. This Stadium has been UP’s regular Test venue since 1995. But lately the control of this venue came to the hands of the UP government and from that time UPCA has been on the lookout to make a stadium of its own. A fees of Rs 1 crore is also paid to the government for an international match is first sought from the state government as Green Park stadium is under the Uttar Pradesh Sports Ministry. Along with these fees, officers are given passes free of cost and other facilities by UPCA. Lalit Khanna enlightened that they are not only trying to get a stadium owned by UPCA, but are also working towards signing a MoU with the government of Uttar Pradesh to get the Green Park stadium on lease.
