Jaipur Polo Ground set to lose its turf

NEW DELHI/JAIPUR: The Land and Development Office (L&DO) of urban affairs ministry has slapped notices on Delhi Race Club and Indian Polo Association (IPA), asking them to vacate the 68-acre prime land on Lok Kalyan Marg.

The two entities have been occupying two land parcels, for Delhi Race Course and Jaipur Polo Ground, respectively, for more than three decades since their leases expired.Officials said this is the second time in the past eight years that L&DO has served notices for the purpose. The market value of this huge chunk of land just opposite the PM’s residence would be in thousands of crores. The L&DO had last sent the notices in Nov 2017.

Though the govt’s intent behind getting the land parcels — 15.2 acre (Jaipur Polo Ground) and 53.2 acre (Delhi Race Club) — vacated has not been spelt out in the notices except for stating that these are required “for public purpose, as part of the larger planning and development of the area under the govt’s control”, a senior urban affairs ministry official said it is part of the redevelopment plan.While IPA has been asked to vacate within 15 days, the timeline for Delhi Race Club couldn’t be ascertained.

Last month, L&DO had sent notices to over 700 households (slums) of Bhai Ram Camp, Masjid Camp and DID Camp located close to the Race Course and Jaipur Polo Ground Road, asking them to vacate the area by March 6 and take possession of flats allotted to them at DUSIB Colony at Savda Ghevra.TOI has learnt that L&DO had held rounds of talks with these two entities in the past few years, wherein issues, including allotment of land at alternative locations, had been discussed, but no decision could be made.As per the L&DO notice to IPA, the land was originally leased in 1930 to Delhi Polo Club, with the lease finally being extended till Mar 31, 1993.In the case of Delhi Race Club, govt had originally allotted 84.5 acre on perpetual lease in 1926. In 1959, a part of the land was given to the govt, leaving the club with 53.2 acres. The lease expired in Dec 1994.The IPA, it has called an executive committee (EC) meeting on Mar 26, 2026.Vikram Rathore, International Polo Federation (FIP) polo ambassador from India and co-owner of Achiever’s Polo Team termed it as a sad day for Indian polo.“The Jaipur Polo Ground and the PM residence are located on land belonging to the erstwhile Jaipur Estate in Delhi owned by the late Maharaja Sawai Man Singh of Jaipur, which was gifted by him to Union of India during India’s Independence. Jaipur Polo Ground was on lease to the ministry of urban affairs,” Rathore claimed.