Meerut (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 9 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday reviewed the progress of Major Dhyanchand Sports University's construction and held a meeting to assess the ongoing infrastructure projects in the city.

The Chief Minister stated that the sports university being established in Meerut will play a significant role in advancing sports activities across Uttar Pradesh.

Emphasising Meerut's rapid development, CM Yogi credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership for enhancing the city's connectivity over the past decade.

Addressing the media, CM Yogi said, 'Meerut is a key city in Uttar Pradesh, and in the last 10 years, it has achieved the best connectivity in the country. India's first rapid rail service has begun between Delhi and Meerut, while the city already benefits from a 12-lane expressway. The Ganga Expressway, linking Meerut to Lucknow and Prayagraj, is in its final stages, and this year's budget has allocated an extension of the expressway to Haridwar.'

Highlighting the government's focus on sports infrastructure, CM Yogi noted that Meerut is home to the state's first sports university, named after hockey legend Major Dhyanchand.

'I visited the upcoming sports university site today. This institution will play a crucial role in advancing sports activities in Meerut, western Uttar Pradesh, and the state as a whole,' said CM Yogi.

Earlier today, CM Yogi said about 2 lakh 66 thousand youths applied for the Chief Minister's Youth Entrepreneur Development Campaign.

While addressing the event in Meerut, CM Yogi praised the Union Government's 'Startup India' scheme and stated that the enthusiasm shown by the state's youth is commendable.

Furthermore, CM Adityanath discussed the scheme's challenges and stated that the government had considered that giving loans to one lakh youth until the end of the financial year 2025 was not possible.

'The enthusiasm shown by the youth from across the state under this new scheme reflects the inclination of the youth of the state towards furthering the efforts of the Honorable Prime Minister's Startup India and Standup India. We launched this scheme on 25 January 2025, and initially, we thought that it would be difficult for one lakh entrepreneurs to get a loan by the end of this financial year, and so many people would not even apply', CM Yogi said.

Furthermore, CM Yogi emphasised the success of the scheme and stated that when the portal was launched, around 2.66 lakh youths had registered for the scheme. The Uttar Pradesh CM said that around 1 lakh registrations have been sent to banks, and they have sanctioned around 25 thousand loans.

'When its portal was launched, about 2 lakh 66 thousand youth applied for this scheme compared to about one lakh. More than one lakh applications have been sent to the banks, and the banks have also carried forward a big program of loan distribution by sanctioning more than 25000 loans so far', he said. (ANI)