Bengaluru, May 23 (PTI) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday laid the foundation stone for an international-standard cricket stadium at Suryanagar in Anekal taluk on Bengaluru outskirts.
The
state government has claimed that it is the second largest one after Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat.
Siddaramaiah said the project would drive tourism, employment generation and economic growth in the region.
The chief minister also launched the government's 'Namma Mane' housing scheme, laid the foundation stones for the Surya Shine and Surya Divine housing complexes, and inaugurated symbolic allotment of sites to landowners who had provided land for the housing project.
"Until now, Bengaluru city and the state did not have an international-standard cricket stadium. Today, at an estimated cost of around Rs 943 crore, the state government is constructing an international-standard cricket stadium in Suryanagar layout in Anekal taluk," Siddaramaiah said while addressing a gathering at the event.
The stadium project is being undertaken jointly by the Housing Department and the Karnataka Housing Board (KHB), and is expected to have a seating capacity of around 80,000, making it the second-largest cricket stadium in the country after the one in Gujarat.
The CM underlined that Bengaluru did not have an international-standard stadium.
"You know about the Chinnaswamy Stadium. A tragedy occurred there a year ago. I realised that constructing such an international-standard cricket stadium was absolutely necessary," he said.
On June 4, 2025, during the RCB victory celebrations in the IPL final match at Chinnaswamy Stadium, 11 people were killed and scores of others were wounded in a stampede.
Siddaramaiah said the government had implemented all measures recommended by the retired High Court judge Justice John Michael Cunha Commission of Inquiry after the tragedy at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
With the construction of such an international-standard stadium, tourism in this region will grow and the economy of the surrounding villages will also improve, the CM said.
"People from your village told me that land prices, which were around Rs 1,500 per square foot earlier, have now increased to Rs 4,000-Rs 5,000 per square foot because an international stadium is coming up," Siddaramaiah added.
The chief minister said the project would be built entirely using KHB funds without government financial assistance.
He said the Housing Board expected to generate nearly Rs 20,000 crore through auctioning vacant sites.
"I have instructed officials to immediately auction all unallotted vacant sites and generate funds for the Housing Board. It is estimated that around Rs 20,000 crore will come from this," he said.
Highlighting the housing initiatives of the government, Siddaramaiah said affordable housing remained a priority.
"Every person dreams of having a house and a roof over their head during their lifetime," he said.
"Today, buying sites or constructing houses in Bengaluru and its surrounding areas has become very difficult because land prices have increased enormously. Yet the Housing Board is providing sites and houses at affordable rates for citizens," he added.
The CM said the Housing Board and Housing Department had so far spent Rs 7,800 crore on housing projects and related schemes. He also said that during the Congress government's earlier tenure between 2013 and 2018, around 14.58 lakh houses had been constructed.
"Since 2023, we have distributed around 45,000 houses and sites, and we will continue to provide more," he said.
Siddaramaiah also announced that administrative approval had been granted for a Rs nine crore road project connecting several villages in the region, including Odeyar Manchanahalli in Jigani hobli.
There is around 4,000 acres of land in Suryanagar. Only 75 acres will be used for the cricket stadium, he said, adding that the area would eventually be developed into a sports village.
"This international cricket stadium is essential. In future, this entire area will become a sports village," he said. PTI GMS KH
