Government sanctions Rs 2 crore for Chennai Open

Chennai: As part of its sports promotion activities, Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday sanctioned Rs 2 crore for conducting the popular tennis tournament, Chennai Open here.

This was in line with the former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's earlier announcement of sanctioning the amount annually for holding the tournament from 2014 to 2016, a government release here said.

Tamil Nadu government, which is the Platinum Sponsor for the popular event, has "sanctioned its contribution of Rs two crore," the release said while recalling various other sports promotion activities of the government, including hiking cash rewards for medal winners in Olympics and other international games.

The Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu tennis stadium which hosts the premier event, has been given a facelift following a Rs 4.50 crore upgradation initiative approved by Jayalalithaa last year, it said.

The Chennai Open is scheduled here from January 5-11, 2015.