India’s Ministry of Sports is preparing one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the country’s sporting history. The iconic Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi is set to be demolished and rebuilt from scratch as part of a large-scale redevelopment plan.

From national stadium to sports city

According to ministry officials, the federal government plans to transform the 42-hectare Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium complex into a multi-purpose sports city. The new hub is intended to function both as a high-performance training base and as a venue for major international events, equipped with facilities that meet global standards.

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Officials stress that planning is still at the proposal stage. The project requires coordination with other ministries, including the Ministry of Urban Development, and no detailed timeline or cost estimate has been drawn up yet. However, a key decision has already been made – a decision has been taken to demolish and redevelop JLN Stadium into a top-class sports centre.

© GMP Architekten

Inspired by Qatar and global complexes

The Delhi redevelopment is expected to draw on the experience of countries that have invested heavily in integrated sports cities. Officials point to Qatar’s Sports City, known as Aspire Zone in Al Rayyan near Doha, as one of the main reference points. Built in 2003 at a multi-billion-dollar cost, the complex played a crucial role in Qatar’s successful bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup and remains central to the country’s ambition to land the 2036 Olympic Games.

Last week, Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and his delegation attended the second World Social Development Summit in Qatar. During the visit, he toured the Qatari sports city and questioned local officials in detail about how the project was implemented. According to ministry sources, a Qatari delegation will soon travel to Delhi to assess the feasibility of the JLN redevelopment and prepare an initial roadmap for the Indian authorities.

The ministry also plans to study other flagship projects. On the reference list are Docklands Stadium in Melbourne, which can host cricket, Australian rules football, rugby and football, and the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave in Ahmedabad. The latter spans about 650 acres, includes Narendra Modi Stadium and multiple Olympic-standard facilities, and cost the Gujarat state government 50.5 billion rupees.

Relocating offices and using land better

The planned revamp will trigger major organisational changes across the stadium site. All offices located within the stadium premises, including certain ministry departments such as the Sports Authority of India (SAI), National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) and the Income Tax Department, will be relocated once the project begins, officials said.

According to the ministry, the current layout does not fully exploit the potential of the more than 41-hectare plot. Only around 28% of the land is said to be used effectively, a figure expected to change dramatically once the complex is transformed into a dense sports city with multiple venues and supporting facilities.

© GMP Architekten

A stadium with rich history and recent upgrades

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium can hold around 60,000 spectators and has hosted numerous major events over recent decades. It staged the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi as well as matches at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017. The venue is used primarily for athletics and football, and it also houses academies for archery, badminton and table tennis.

Importantly, the stadium has only recently undergone an expensive upgrade linked to hosting the World Para Athletics Championships. The event brought more than 2,200 athletes from 104 countries to Delhi. As part of the preparations, a new blue nine-lane synthetic Mondo track was installed on the main field and in the warm-up area, significantly improving the facility’s competition standards.