Bhubaneswar | Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) was awarded the first CII Sports Business Awards 2023. Dr. Achyuta Samanta, Founder, KIIT & KISS received the award on behalf of KIIT from Chanakya Chaudhry, Chairman, CII National Committee on Sports. 

KIIT got the award in the “Best Sports Facility” category for creating top-notch sports facilities in India. Jay Shah, Honorary Secretary, BCCI and President, Asian Cricket Council was recognised as the Best Sports Business Leader, and Nita Ambani, Chairperson & Founder of Reliance Foundation, and Dr. Achyuta Samanta were recognised as the Sports Business Leaders, for their exceptional leadership in sports business. 

Royal Challenger, Bangalore was awarded with the Sports Franchise of the Year award; and Tamil Nadu was awarded as Best state promoting sports.  

The jury comprised of National and Global leaders from the World of Sports and included Abhinav Bindra; Michelle Wade, Commissioner to South Asia, State Govt. of Victoria, Australia; Abhishek Binaykia, Partner, Transformation, Head of Technology Center of Excellence and Head of Sports Advisory, Grant Thornton Bharat; Nic Coward, Expert Partner, Portas Consulting and Aahna Mehotra, Partner TMT Law Practice.

Earlier, KIIT was awarded with Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar 2022 by the Govt. of India; FICCI India Sports Award 2022 by FICCI; Sport Star Aces Award 2022 by the Hindu; and Biju Patnaik Sports Award 2019 for ‘Best Contribution for promotion of sports and games’ by Govt. of Odisha.