Govt Plans Offices, Housing Complex On Delhi Gymkhana Club Land: Sources | Exclusive

The Centre’s move to reclaim the Delhi Gymkhana Club premises is driven by multiple strategic and administrative reasons, with the government maintaining that the high-security New Delhi zone should be reserved exclusively for official and governance-related purposes, top government sources told CNN-News18.

According to sources, the government views the Delhi Gymkhana Club (DGC) as the only privately accessed establishment situated within a sensitive administrative and security corridor near the Prime Minister’s residence on Lok Kalyan Marg. In a letter issued by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, the Centre stated that the land was required for “strengthening defence infrastructure, vital public security purposes, urgent governance

needs and integrated public-interest projects.”

Centre Cites Strategic, Security Reasons For Reclaiming DGC

Sources added that the initial proposal includes developing government offices and residential accommodation for officials in the area, similar to the Moti Bagh kind of facility.

The development comes amid a legal challenge before the Delhi High Court. The court has issued summons to both the Centre and the elite club management on petitions filed by club members, the Staff Welfare Association and others opposing the government’s directive to vacate the Safdarjung Road premises.

On May 22, the Land and Development Office (L&DO) ordered the club to hand over the land by June 5, citing strategic and defence-related needs.

Colonial-Era Club At Centre Of Major Land Dispute

Founded on July 3, 1913, as the Imperial Delhi Gymkhana Club during the British era, the institution originally catered to colonial administrators and military officers. The term “Imperial” was dropped after India’s Independence in 1947, while most of the current structures date back to the 1930s.

In 2022, the National Company Law Tribunal allowed the appointment of 15 government-nominated directors to the club’s governing body following allegations of oppression and mismanagement raised by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.