Patna: The Bihar government has approved the construction of a state-of-the-art 25 and 50-metre indoor shooting range in Kalyan Bigha, Nalanda, at a cost of Rs 24.21 crore.
According to Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, the new facility will be built on vacant land located in the eastern and south-eastern parts of the existing shooting range in Kalyan Bigha, the native village of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The expansion aims to complete the range by adding outdoor facilities for 25 and 50-metre shooting, eliminating the need for athletes to travel elsewhere for training.
Samrat said that the 10-metre indoor range, already operational in Kalyan Bigha, is ranked the second-best in the country. However, it remained incomplete due to the absence of longer-range facilities. The new development will create a full-fledged shooting complex, significantly boosting training and competition standards in the region.
The original range was inaugurated by the chief minister on May 14, 2011, and was initially operated from the Panchayat Bhawan for over five years. On January 1, 2017, a new 35-lane ultra-modern range was launched, equipped with online and automatic scoring systems. Since then, it has hosted several national-level matches and is considered the most advanced shooting facility in eastern and north-eastern India.
Only the Bhopal shooting range in Madhya Pradesh rivals it in terms of scale and resources. Both Kalyan Bigha and Bhopal are the only ranges in the country where players are provided with arms for training.
