Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to be demolished for 102-acre sports city

In a major development for Indian sports infrastructure, the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium complex in New Delhi is set to be dismantled to make way for a state-of-the-art Sports City spread across 102 acres, Sports Ministry sources told India Today on Monday, November 10. The project aims to introduce world-class sporting facilities as India continues to push for the hosting rights of the Olympic Games in 2036.

Officials are currently studying infrastructure models from Qatar and Australia—two countries that have built modern, multipurpose sporting ecosystems capable of hosting major global events. However, there is no fixed timeline for the start of construction. The redevelopment will only begin after the assessments are complete and a final plan is approved.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, originally built for the 1982 Asian Games and later renovated for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, has long been one of India’s most iconic multi-sport venues. With a capacity of nearly 60,000, it has hosted major athletics events, football fixtures, large-scale concerts, and national ceremonies, including Independence Day functions. The stadium has historically served as the home venue for the national athletics team and has



been a key landmark within India’s sporting history for over four decades.

Only earlier this year, the JLN Stadium in New Delhi hosted the World Para Athletics Championships. A mondo track was laid for the event, costing up to Rs 30 crore.

The proposed Sports City is expected to feature elite training facilities, upgraded competition venues, and athlete-centric high-performance centres designed to international standards. If approved in its planned form, the project would stand among the most ambitious sports infrastructure upgrades undertaken in the country.

The Doha Sports City is spread over 617 acres. It has facilities for football, aquatics and 13 different indoor sports besides an academy. It also houses a specialised orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital.

Australia's multi-purpose facilities include the Docklands Stadium in Melbourne that can host cricket, Australian rules football, rugby, cricket and soccer.

Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Complex is an example closer home, having facilities for cricket, aquatics, tennis and athletics among others. It is spread over 250 acres and was built at a cost of Rs 4600 crore.