India’s first Adventure Sports Academy is all set to come up at Gandikota in Kadapa district. The cost for the entire project has been estimated at a whopping Rs 271 crore. This academy will foster adventure sports on land, water, and air. Eventually, the officials will zero down on three locations to organise these activities on a much larger scale.
It has been learned that the government of Andhra Pradesh has struck a deal with Shekhar Babu Bachinepally. Shekhar is acknowledged for mentoring many mountaineers in India. A report in Times of India quoted state tourism secretary Mukesh Kumar Meena saying, “Andhra Pradesh, with its unique geographical features, has every kind of terrain for adventure activities on air, water, and land. As adventure activities are entirely different from other sports and it needs coordination with various departments for organising them, specialised skilled persons are required. This academy will promote adventure tourism and encourage the youth to participate in them”.
The academy will try and identify areas in other parts of the state to spread its wings. Sub-centres for various specialisations like camping, rock-climbing, aero and water sports, etc. This, the officials feel, will help in engaging the local unemployed youth into adventure sports. This will also help in creating job opportunities in the adventure sports sector of the state.
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