India will shine in this year's Asian Games: Sports Minister Anurag Thakur
Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur is optimistic that Indian athletes will achieve remarkable success in the upcoming Asian Games.
Anurag Singh Thakur, who was on a tour to Punjab, addressed the media from Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala on Monday.
He spoke about the Asian Games preparation of the Indian athletes and said that the athletes would do "exceptionally well" in the Asian Games 2023. The Sports Minister added that the Indian athletes have been doing well in all major events recently.
“For the past few years, India has done exceptionally well in all sports. Today, our sportspersons are bringing laurels to India on the world stage. I have full faith that India will do exceptionally well in the medal tally in the upcoming Asian Games also,” Thakur said.
During the event, he also interacted with athletes, who are all set to represent India in the Asian Games 2023. Notably, India is all set to send 634 athletes to China for the marquee event. This is the largest-ever contingent from the country. In the 2018 edition, 570 athletes across 36 different sports represented the country. India finished 8th with 70 medals, including 16 gold medals.
Anurag Thakur inaugurated infrastructure projects worth INR 13 crores at NIS
The Union Minister Thakur, during his tour, also inaugurated several renovated projects at NIS, Patiala. The renovated Wrestling hall has modern facilities including 26 training stations.
During the media interaction about the upgraded facilities at NIS, Anurag Thakur mentioned that the development works worth more than INR 20 Crores are underway.
"Development projects worth 13 crores have been inaugurated today. Development works worth 36 crores are currently underway and 24 crore more are going to be granted soon," he said.
Other notable renovated projects include the addition of world-class strength and conditioning equipment in the fitness centre and the upgraded NIS guest house for the athletes and coaches. A Silver Jubliee Hostel has been constructed in order to host the athletes from different places during multinational camps.