Ludhiana, Aug. 13 -- With less than three weeks to go for the 75th Junior National Basketball Championship for men and women, Ludhiana's long-awaited indoor basketball facility at Guru Nanak Stadium is still incomplete.

The championship, beginning September 2, will see a record 58 teams - 31 men's and 27 women's - compete in 160 matches over seven days. The indoor venue, developed under the Smart City Mission, was envisioned as a flagship project but has been plagued by repeated delays.

Originally slated for completion in June 2024, the project's deadline has been pushed multiple times - to December 2024, January, March, May and then July this year. The May 31 deadline was also missed. In March, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation fined ...