Delhi stadia should be used for academies: Dikshit

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has said her government is "seriously considering" setting up sports academies to make use of the 15 stadia which were either upgraded or built anew.

"We are considering that we must make academies here in Delhi to use the infrastructure. We should seriously, very seriously think of building academies here," she told PTI journalists during an interaction here.

She was asked what the government was planning to do with these stadia for which crores of rupees have been spent. The government will have to act as a "catalyst" for setting up such academies under whatever model these are set up, Dikshit said.

"We have got a wonderful tennis stadium. Eight (tennis) courts are not a small thing, so (we must) build up tennis academies," she said. She also talked about the stadia built for boxing, cycling and other sports, which could be used for academies.

"But you know we should build them really well. I think it should be done under the aegis of the Government," the Chief Minister said.

Asked whether she favours the public-private-partnership (PPP) model, she responded, "What model they are bringing them up is not (an issue)." In this context, she pointed out that Delhi has language and cultural academies which are managed by the government, but they have eminent members.

"To my mind broadly this should be the kind of pattern we should have so that these stadia continue to be used. When you made world-class infrastructure, we need to do it," she said.