Bhubaneswar: Hockey India League (HIL), a professional league for hockey competition in the country, has proposed franchise for Odisha, official sources said on Tuesday.

A Team of HIL officers led by its General Secretary Narendra Batra met senior Odisha government officials and made a presentation highlighting opportunities in franchise and potentiality of the state in Hockey.

With a rich history in Hockey, Odisha has produced international players like Ignes Tirkey, Dillip Tirkey, Lazarus Barla, Michael Kindo and 15 other known players in recent years. Franchise in the League would promote sports at grass root level, they said.

It would increase community visibility and also be helpful for propagation of various potentialities of Odisha both at national and international levels. The league would focus on talent scouting in sports particularly hockey.

The franchise would enhance city image on an international scale as many international sports events would be held here and state will be a part of the global league. The cost involvement in the franchise for 2014-15 was estimated around Rs 6 crore, which would also generate assured revenue of more than Rs 3 Crore, said Batra.

Besides, the League would provide a broad platform for propagation of art, culture, industrial, tourism and other opportunities at national and international levels, he said.

The proposal for possibility of holding the franchise through SPV in partnership among state owned IDCO (industrial infrastructure development corporation), OMC (Odisha Mining Corporation) and other PSUs was discussed in the meeting presided over by chief secretary J K Mohapatra here yesterday, sources said.