Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin lays foundation stone for hockey stadium in Coimbatore

Tamil Nadu Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin inaugurates hockey stadium in Coimbatore, emphasizes on welfare schemes and women empowerment.

Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sunday laid the foundation for a hockey stadium that will come up on 7.02 acres on the Corporation Higher Secondary School ground in R.S. Puram, Coimbatore city. The facility will be developed at a cost of ₹9.67 crore.

The stadium will feature an ASTRO turf laid over 6,500 square metres, a dressing room covering 147 sq. metres, six stadium mast lights, and a pop-up sprinkler system, apart from a 1,700 seater spectator gallery, a conference hall, a dining hall for players, a gym, rest rooms, office rooms, and parking facilities for 114 cars and 208 two-wheelers.

As part of the event, the Deputy Chief Minister also laid the foundation stones for 132 new development projects in Coimbatore district, which are estimated to cost ₹82.14 crore. He inaugurated 54 completed projects, valued at ₹29.99 crore, including an automated paneer production unit with a capacity of two tonnes a day, established at the Coimbatore District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union campus at ₹10.36 crore.

In addition, Mr. Udhayanidhi distributed welfare assistance worth ₹239.41 crores to 25,024 beneficiaries under various government schemes.

The “Dravidian Model” stood for “Ellarukkum Ellam” (everything for everyone), and the present government has been implementing schemes reflecting this approach. Listing out the initiatives launched since the DMK came to power, he said that every citizen in Tamil Nadu had benefitted in some way through the government’s programmes.

In the last four years, around ₹3,800 crore in credit linkages were provided to Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in Coimbatore district. “We do not see this as merely loan amounts, but as trust in their work,” he said, citing examples of women who had become entrepreneurs through the schemes.

He also pointed out that over 46% of working women across India were from Tamil Nadu and assured that the government would continue to extend its support towards women’s empowerment.