Bhubaneswar, Dec 2 (IANS): To attract the leading sports goods and equipment manufacturers, the Odisha government is planning to bring a policy to attract the sports, fitness and wellness sector companies, a senior official said on Thursday.

Principal Secretary, Industries, Hemant Sharma said this while speaking at the webinar on "Odisha - The sports destination of India".

The state government is keen on making the sports goods manufacturing sector a priority sector and came up with a policy that would lay out attractive incentives for sports goods manufacturers and exporters who would like to invest in Odisha, he said.

Leading the sports ecosystem in the country, Odisha has hosted several international sporting events including Asian athletics championships 2017, men's hockey world cup 2018 and the ongoing hockey men's junior world cup 2021, Sharma pointed out.

To facilitate the sportspersons, he said, Odisha has built 11 high-performance centres including Abhinav Bindra Targeting Performance Centre, Reliance Foundation Athletics High-Performance Centre, Odisha JSW Swimming High-Performance Centre in 10 sports disciplines.

He further said the state has also decided to build 89 Biju Patnaik indoor stadia, 20 hockey training centres, 16 sports hostels and 314 rural mini stadia across the state to empower budding sportspersons.

He also invited the participating sports goods manufacturers and exporter association to visit Odisha and explore the opportunities in this sector.

Highlighting the geographical position of the state, Sharma spoke on how the manufacturers can import raw materials from the south-east Asian countries and cater to the domestic needs in the eastern and northeastern region of the country as well as export to other countries.