Meghalaya’s coalition government, headed by the National People’s Party, is investing heavily in football toward creating a job-oriented sports economy, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said on Tuesday (March 25, 2025).
He said Meghalaya would have 50 Astro Turf football fields by 2028, the most for any State in India. More than 100 football training grounds are also being developed for children and youth at the grassroots level.
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“Twenty-five of these 50 artificial turfs are under construction, while 25 others are in the proposal stage. At ₹10 crore per turf, we will be spending ₹500 crore on these football fields,” Mr. Sangma told journalists after inaugurating the 7th Act East Business Show in the State’s capital, Shillong.
He said the craze for football has made the State government push the beautiful game to the next level by taking steps such as setting up a 40,000-capacity football stadium that would be India’s biggest. He also said a centre of excellence is being established in Shillong in collaboration with the NorthEast United FC, one of the country’s top football clubs.
The Chief Minister said the government has targeted about 25,000 children through the grassroots football programmes and was creating funds for them.
The State government has also identified archery, shooting, contact sports, canoeing, and kayaking for promotion after realising their potential. Another plan is to tap the natural sprinting talent of people in the State’s Ranikor and Shella areas by giving them access to advanced training, nutrition, and physical development.
“We want to build sports to create jobs for the youth. We hope the investments we make in sports will allow us to create close to 15,000 direct and indirect jobs. We are trying to create an economy out of sports and music,” Mr. Sangma said, underlining the potential of the State’s concert economy.
He said the investments would not yield results overnight as success comes after a process.
“We see our investment in sports as character-building for our youth. We want to win medals, but you cannot quantify the outcome just based on medals. We are creating an ecosystem for sports and making sports a culture and part of the lives of our children from all angles,” he added.
