Andhra Creates Its New Sports Citadel With Its ACA Stadium Redefining Sporting Future
The Dr. Gokaraju Laila Gangaraju ACA Cricket Stadium is being upgraded into a National Centre of Excellence for cricket.
After the bifurcation of the state, Andhra is now determined to evolve Amaravati as the next sports capital, as seen through its recent prioritisation of development through sports infrastructure. A ₹54 crore allocation was made for a 2500-acre sports city in the latest capital, along with a ₹25 crore sanction made for the Visakhapatnam stadium to support the goal.
A constituent of this broad vision is the announcement of Dr Gokaraju Laila Gangaraju ACA Cricket Stadium in Mulapadu, Ibrahimpatnam Mandal of the NTR region, transformed into a state-of-the-art, National Centre Of Excellence for cricket. ACA President and Vijayawada MP Kesineni Sivanath alias Chinni, along with ACA Secretary Sana Satish Babu inspected and reviewed the project status along with dedicated ACA architects and engineers.
The Andhra Premier League is scheduled to be based at three places, namely Visakhapatnam, Mangalagiri and Kadapa, thereby boosting the sports infrastructure allocations of these areas. The declaration of the national centre of excellence has come after the recent Mangalagiri stadium revival after a long 7-year wait against a similar backdrop.
As Plans are underway to develop Mulapadu into a state-of-the-art 'Center of Excellence' for the state, Visited the Mulapadu Cricket Complex. While two grounds are already operational, we are set to build 50 additional rooms at the stadium in the coming days to further enhance… pic.twitter.com/JkXOu9pboq
— Sana Sathish Babu (@sanasathishbabu) March 4, 2026
Inside the making of Andhra's new cricket hub
Initial plans involved the creation of cricket grounds across 175 constituencies, gaining a reputation for the ACA for becoming the first to carry out a project of this scale. The stadium currently is home to two operational cricket fields, a swimming pool, a dressing room and four rooms. The revamping blueprint entails an additional 50 rooms constructed to enhance the accommodation of the athletes. A second pitch was supposed to be completed as a part of this project within a year from its announcement in August 2024. Plans also include installation of new amenities like a cricket academy, a golf course and other sporting facilities.
Major objectives behind the project include grassroots accessibility to high-performance sporting infrastructure that is on par with institutions like the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.