The four acres will house the clubhouse, a heritage building
Bengaluru: In a step towards shifting the Bangalore Turf Club (BTC) to Kunigal Stud Farm near Tumakuru, the state cabinet Thursday approved a lease of four acres on Race Course Road to the club for 30 years, as the govt had assured earlier.
Briefing after the cabinet meeting, RDPR minister Eshwar B Khandre said BTC had sought the lease through the public works department. The land houses the club’s clubhouse and heritage building. The govt had already decided to move the race course out of the city, and BTC had asked for time till next year to complete the shift, to which the govt agreed.
The cabinet had also decided to collect rent at 2 per cent of the club’s annual revenue, retrospectively from 2010. An audit report had found the rent on the 83.14 acres was not revised after Jan 1, 2010. Until 2009, the club paid Rs 25.9 lakh a year. BTC occupies 83 acres and 14 guntas of prime land, according to sources. Its lease on the land ran out in 2009, and the govt refused to renew its racing licences in 2024 before asking it to relocate. With the club agreeing to move, the govt is considering setting aside 12 to 15 acres of the land to be reclaimed for a new, expansive court complex. The cabinet cleared the lease of 110 acres and 20 guntas at Kunigal Stud Farm to BTC for 29 years in Feb. A 30 year lease to United Racing and Bloodstock Breeders expired on Sept 30, 2022, after which a global tender was floated in Jan 2023.
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Chief minister DK Shivakumar had said the cabinet would pass a resolution on the matter. The club has said it will complete the shift in two to three years, and the Jockey Club of England has offered to design the new track free of cost. The state has also told the court that the race course site is earmarked for a new High Court building, an idea Shivakumar had floated at a Cubbon Park citizen outreach programme last year.
The Karnataka High Court has been informed of the proposal. BTC had also asked the govt for about four acres at the existing site, citing access for patrons. A PIL by activist Vijay Nishanth against the Kunigal allocation is pending in the High Court, which has sought the state’s reply. Kunigal Stud Farm itself has a history. Download the TOI App.