The construction work for the 20,000-seater Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium, touted to be the country's largest, started in Odisha's Rourkela on Friday.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had laid the foundation stone of the stadium at the Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) campus in the steel city in February.
"The construction of the Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium gains momentum with a 'bhoomi puja' (groundbreaking ceremony)," Sundergarh district Collector Nikhil Pavan Kalyan tweeted.
Rourkela MLA Sarada Prasad Nayak and Additional District Magistrate Aboli Naravane attended the event, the official said.
The stadium will come up on 15-20 acres of land, for which work is expected to be completed within a year. It will host the FIH Odisha Men's Hockey World Cup 2023 along with Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks