Udaan Inter Village Cricket Premier League organised by AM/NS India kicks off at Paradeepgarh

By Pravakar Sahoo

Paradeep, April 18, 2023: With an objective to inculcate sportsmanship and a culture of sports among the youth of the nearby communities, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) under its CSR initiative Udaan is organising a day & night inter village cricket tournament at Paradeepgarh in Jagatsinghpur district. The inauguration was held today at the Paradeepgarh village playground. Ten teams from ten villages including Nuagarh, Baldia, Handia, Mushadia, Singitali, Paradeepgarh, Chakradharpur, Bhutmundei, Pipal and Phulbelari are participating in the tournament. The tournament will conclude on 20th April 2023.

The tournament was inaugurated by Sri Sambit Routray, MLA, Paradeep. Present on the occasion were Smt Sasmita Behera, Sarpanch, Paradeepgarh, Sri Debendra Kumar Rout, Sarpanch, Nuagarh, Sri Suresha G, Executive Director, Odisha Operations, AM/NS India, Dr Vikas Yadvendu, Head-CSR, AM/NS India, other senior officials of the company, members of the community and members of all the playing teams.

Inaugurating the event Sri Sambit Routray said, “Such an initiative is highly appreciable, especially the cricket tournament which is being organized by AM/NS India. Thanks to AM/NS India for carrying out various developmental activities of this area. Through this cricket tournament, a good relationship will be built between the neighbouring villages.”

On the occasion Sri Suresha G, Executive Director, Odisha Operations, AM/NS India said, “AM/NS India is organising such sports events to encourage the youth to come forward and participate. We are also closely working with the Govt of Odisha for the upliftment of the sports sector in a big way. We had earlier collaborated with the Odisha Govt. as the main sponsor of the State’s Kho Kho franchise – Odisha Juggernauts in its inaugural edition in 2022 and had also been the official partner of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup 2021. Recently we have signed an MoU with Government of Odisha to promote the sport of gymnastics. We are confident that these engagements will go a long way in inculcating sportsmanship, team spirit and a positive outlook among the youth of our state. My best wishes to all the participants.”

Dr Vikas Yadvendu said, “This is the first time AM/NS India is organising such cricket league in Paradeep as part of its CSR initiative. We are happy to see such overwhelming response from the neighbouring villagers. We will continue organising such activities going forward.”