GUWAHATI, July 15: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday inaugurated the High-Performance Sports Training and Rehabilitation Centre at Kokrajhar, marking a significant step in Assam’s push to develop world-class sports infrastructure.
This facility is the third of its kind in the state, following similar centres in Guwahati and Jorhat.
According to an official statement, the centre is a joint venture between the Department of Sports and Youth Welfare, Government of Assam; Abhinav Futuristic Private Limited; Oil India Limited; and Numaligarh Refinery Limited.
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It aims to provide cutting-edge support to both grassroots and elite athletes, particularly from the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), through a wide range of services including advanced robotic rehabilitation, sports-specific training, physiological and biomechanical assessments, nutritional support, and recovery services.
The centre also houses specialised laboratories such as a motion analysis lab, gait lab, biomechanics lab, recovery lab, rehabilitation lab, and a para-athletics performance lab, among others.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Chief Minister Sarma stated that the facility has been specifically designed to benefit the sports talents of the BTR region.
“Kokrajhar has a large pool of sports talent. This centre will not only support them with world-class training and rehabilitation infrastructure but will also create Olympic-level value addition in the region,” he said.
He added that the collaboration between the state government, Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), and private stakeholders was instrumental in bringing the project to fruition.
With the launch of the Kokrajhar facility, Assam has become the first state in the country to establish three such high-performance sports centres in a short span of time.
Referring to the recently concluded Khel Maharan, in which over 73 lakh sportspersons participated across the state, the chief minister noted that while Assam has a large number of talented athletes, many have lacked exposure and opportunity to perform on national and international stages.
“The high-performance centres in Guwahati, Jorhat, and now Kokrajhar, will bridge this gap and provide the necessary platform for athletes to elevate their performance,” he said.
According to the statement, since the inauguration of the centres in Guwahati and Jorhat, over 100 athletes from Assam have won medals at the national level, while 300 players have secured podium finishes in state-level competitions.
Sarma also outlined future plans for the sports ecosystem in the region.
He announced that a football stadium would soon be constructed in Kokrajhar with a project cost of ₹125 crore.
The foundation stone for the project will be laid shortly. He further stated that the government is considering establishing rehabilitation units in medical colleges and hospitals across the state in the next two to three years to expand access to physiotherapy and related services.
Encouraging young athletes to make full use of the Kokrajhar facility, which was built at a cost of ₹25.70 crore with an additional ₹2.60 crore earmarked for execution supervision, the chief minister said that the centre offers a blend of high-end sports technology, expert physiotherapy, rehabilitation, and scientific assessment.
It is designed to serve both top-level and emerging athletes from Assam.
The event was attended by several dignitaries including Minister for Sports and Youth Welfare Nandita Gorlosa, Minister for Handloom and Textile UG Brahma, BTC Chief Executive Member Pramod Boro, Deputy CEM Govinda Basumatary, Olympian and sports entrepreneur Abhinav Bindra, and Director of Oil India Limited Saloma Yomdo.
Sarma concluded by thanking the people of Kokrajhar for their enthusiastic support and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to strengthening sports infrastructure and promoting talent across Assam.
