by Sachin Murdeshwar

Mumbai :  Newly appointed Sports and Education Minister of Maharashtra, Mr Ashish Shelar, who was the guest of honour at the student induction ceremony of the International Institute of Sports Management (IISM) announced his first ambitious venture when he spoke about the State government’s plan to invest Rs 3000cr towards the development of world-class sporting infrastructure over the next 10 Years. Also present at the occasion were Mr Amol Gupte, Actor/Writer/Director and Philanthropist and Nilesh Kulkarni, Ex Cricketer and Founder/Director IISM, Amit Gupte, COO, IISM and Amitava Pal, Associate Dean, IISM.

IISM is conducting an induction day where 250 students and their parents were being introduced to the world of Sports Education and Sports Management. Students will get an idea of the Industry, Job Opportunities and the curriculum of the courses. The students will also be introduced to their associate dean and the faculty during this process.

Addressing the students at the occasion Mr Shelar said, “IISM is doing an incredible job in blending classroom education with practical industry knowledge to create future managers who will change the face of the sports industry. This is a one of a kind industry which creates jobs in an environmentally sustainable way and students have the power to bring about changes in sports policies and laws by researching and finding loopholes which favour the sporting industry”.
“There is a huge opportunity in the booming sports tourism and this generation with their enthusiasm and the marketing tools at their disposal can work wonders for the sports tourism industry and put India on the global map,” he further added.When asked about the government’s initiative, Mr Shelar said, “In the current budget, our finance minister has announced that the state will invest 1500 crore in the coming 3 years and another 1500 crores will be released systematically in the next 10 years towards the development of sports infrastructure. Apart from the world-class sporting facilities, the state government will also focus on creating recreational facilities at the Taluka and Zilla Parishad level. In the meantime, we are also going to take steps to make better use of the Balewadi sports facility.