New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to be demolished, brand new 'Sports City' to be built in its place: Report

The iconic Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, the primary venue for the 1982 Asian Games as well as the 2010 Commonwealth Games , is set to be demolished soon with a Sports City likely to be built in its place. The proposed Sports City will not only have multiple venues for all major disciplines, it will also have residential facilities for athletes.

A report on The Indian Express, however, states that a concrete decision is yet to be made on the matter which is still at the “ideation phase”, with the government currently studying similar projects that have been executed elsewhere in the world.

“There is no timeline for the project fixed yet as it is in ideation phase. We are assessing sports cities like the one in Doha. Once all of that is done, we will move ahead with the planning phase,” a government source was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

Revamped stadium to be torn down, existing offices to be moved elsewhere

The JLN Stadium had been built ahead of the 1982 Asian Games and had undergone a Rs 961 crore makeover ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The iconic venue had also recently hosted the World Para-Athletics Championships from 26 September to 5 October, for which another Rs 50 crore had been spent on renovation, including the installation of two new mondo tracks – on the main as well as the warm-up tracks.

Also Read | How Delhi’s JLN Stadium was made inclusive for World Para Athletics 2025

Besides athletics, the JLN Stadium also happens to be among the country’s primary football venues, having hosted key matches during the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017 including all of India’s home games.

And besides the main football and athletics stadium, the existing complex also houses an archery academy and badminton courts as well as offices of the Sports Authority of India, the National Anti-Doping Agency and the National Dope Testing Laboratory.

The government source, however, adds that the offices will be moved elsewhere while the main stadium will be demolished.

“All the offices will be relocated and similarly the main stadium will be dismantled. Residential complexes will be built so that when athletes come here to participate in an event, they can stay near the stadium,” he added.

The Mansukh Mandaviya-led Sports Ministry, meanwhile, is reportedly drawing inspiration from the 618-acre Doha Sports City, which had been built ahead of the 2006 Asian Games and had also hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup.