P.V.
Sindhu and Andhra Pradesh IT & HRD Minister Nara Lokesh laid the foundation stone for the P.V.
Sindhu Centre for Sports Excellence in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday (August 5, 2026), marking the beginning of an ambitious project aimed at nurturing the next generation of India’s Olympic athletes.
Spread across nearly two lakh square feet, the campus has been envisioned as an integrated sports and education ecosystem.
What began as an initiative focused solely on badminton expanded into a multi-sport project following discussions with AP Chief Minister N.
Chandrababu Naidu and will now cater to seven disciplines — badminton, table tennis, swimming, shooting, football, basketball and chess.
The vision, Sindhu said, was to create a place where every discipline would receive equal importance from the outset.
To prepare for the project, Sindhu and her husband, Venkata Datta Sai, spent their vacations studying some of the world’s leading sports facilities, visiting centres in Doha, Milan and Australia, among others.
The trips, she said, became learning opportunities as they sought to understand global best practices in sports infrastructure and athlete development, joking that she now needed a “holiday from all her holidays”.
“We put our sweat and blood into it.
I can confidently tell you that it will be a world-class centre and, at the same time, it will be an institute where people will actually be like, ‘Wow, this is what we need in our state and in the country,’” Sindhu told The Hindu.
The facilities Badminton: Nine international-standard courts, capable of hosting BWF International Challenge level tournaments Table Tennis: Nine professional grade tables with a dedicated performance training hall Swimming: 25-metre performance pool designed for elite training and conditioning Shooting: Indoor ranges at 10m and 25m, built for national and international level competition preparation Chess: Dedicated high-performance training space for advanced coaching and competition readiness High-Performance Engine Room: An 8,000 sq. ft.
Strength and Conditioning Arena, one of the largest in India and benchmarked against global centres including Aspetar in Doha, houses sports science, performance tracking, load monitoring, physiotherapy, recovery systems and yoga and wellness facilities.
Scheduled for completion by May 2028, the facility will allow children to experience multiple sports before choosing a discipline to specialise in, with the broader aim of creating a pathway to build elite athletes.
Reflecting on the significance of the project, Sindhu said it represented a legacy beyond her achievements on the court.
“Sport has given me and taught me so much.
It is a big project and is not easy, but at the same time I wanted something on this scale.
I want to show people that we have a lot of talent and if we give them the world-class facilities, I’m sure you will see a lot of kids go on to bag medals for the state and the nation,” she remarked.
“India gave me the opportunity to win two Olympic medals, which changed my life.
And this institution is how I carry that opportunity forward.
My medals will always be my greatest honour and I hope this centre becomes my greatest contribution.
Olympic medals inspire a generation, but institutions build generations.”
