Chandigarh: India's first Olympics individual gold medalist at the Beijing Games, Abhinav Bindra plans to open a chain of more than 500 schools throughout the country.

"We have written a letter to Chandigarh administrator S.F. Rodrigues on Wednesday to sanction us the appropriate land for the construction of our first school in the city," A.S. Bindra, father of Abhinav Bindra, told sources.

"These schools will be of international standards with unmatched sports facilities. We will develop a special curriculum modules that will be common in all the schools," Bindra said.

The Bindra family will directly control the schools in Punjab, whereas schools in other states will be given to franchises.

"The name of the schools will be Abhinav Bindra Ace Public School (ABAPS) and we plan to open 20-25 schools in every state of the country. We will give franchise of the school to interested parties who have the required land and funds," stated Bindra.

"Our aim is to introduce the concept of happy schools. Going to school should not be a burden on any student, rather they should go there happily and willingly. There will be a unique talent search system in each school and we bring out the real talent of students that can be in studies, sports, art, theatre or in any of the field," said Abhinav Bindra, the mastermind behind this concept.

"We will have schools in every state, so if a child has to shift to some other city in between the session then he can easily get admission in another branch of the ABAPS. The motto of our school is, 'Fortune favours the brave'," said Abhinav.

"The schools will be affiliated with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and will be residential cum day boarding. The schools will be co-educational and till class 12. We will also introduce a system of student exchange programmes with the schools of developed countries," said Abhinav. IANS