AGARTALA, Feb 13 (TIWN): A huge numbers of audiences were followed at Agartala Swami Vevekanada Stadium on Monday.

As a part of attempt to develop sports in NE India, State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has organized a football competition to boost sports and sporting talent.

Many talents from Tripura Sports background is expectedly to come out through the tournament.

Calling this a part of its corporate social responsibility, ONGC Executive Director S.C. Soni told reporters that the company had decided to help the sports sector financially and otherwise.

He said ONGC had allocated Rs 24 crore to add additional infrastructure to Tripura's Dasaratha Deb Sports stadium on the outskirts of Agartala.

"There is no financial limit to helping the northeastern states in sports. The Tripura government has made a Rs 150 crore project to develop the Dasaratha Deb Sports stadium. We will help them," he added.

The company has been organising a Lucky-Srivastava Memorial Invitation Football Tournament for 20 years.

In the tournament that begins on Saturday, 13 teams, including from Tripura, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam Rifles, Central Reserve Police Force and Border Security Force, will take part.

ONGC engineers Justin Lucky and S.K. Srivastava were killed by militants in Tripura in September 1992.