PM to inaugurate Khelo India University Games tomorrow

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Saturday inaugurate the first-ever Khelo India University Games which are being organized in Odisha. Modi will address the opening ceremony of the games via video-cconferencing., the Prime Minister's Office said on Friday.

The Khelo India University Games are being organized by the Central government in association with the Odisha government. The games will be held from February 22-March 1 at Bhubaneswar.

It will be the largest-ever university level sports competition in India with about 3,500 participants from over 150 universities across the country, the PMO statement said. A total of 17 sporting disciplines -- archery, athletics, boxing, fencing, judo, swimming, weightlifting, wrestling, badminton, basketball, football, hockey, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, rugby, and kabaddi -- are being organized.

The Khelo India program, a brainchild of Prime Minister Modi, was introduced to inculcate a sports culture at the grassroots level by building a strong framework for all sports played in the country and establish India as a great sporting nation, the statement said.