The owner of Buddh International Circuit, Jaypee Group, which hosted the F1 Indian GP, has lost the land where the track is built.
The 2,500 acres land was allotted to Jaypee Sports Limited, an affiliate of Japyee Group, by Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority. The owners built 11 townships along with a F1 circuit, a cricket stadium, a NBA Academy, among other projects.
But the cash-crunched group was always behind the payments, with the amount said to be above Rs. 850 crores. The Jaypee Group tried to push through still, but YEIDA eventually decided to pull the plug and take away the land, to put it up in auction.
It is unclear if they intend to auction it as a whole land and or if they will sell it property wise. The Buddh circuit hosted Indian GP from 2011 until 2013 and despite having two more years in its contract, the F1 grand prix never returned to Greater Noida.
Tax issues and bureaucracy has kept F1 away and despite Liberty Media marking India as one of the key markets, not much progress has been made for the race to return. With Jaypee only getting into more troubles, a new owner may be a blessing in disguise.
The circuit is not used overly, especially for racing, as only handful takes place in a year. They do have other events like track days or launches, while they also rent it for music concerts, award shows and shooting purposes – whether adverts and or movies/songs.
“A thousand hectare land was allotted to Jaypee Sports Limited, an affiliate of Jaypee group, in YEIDA’s special economic zone. JSL has been defaulting on payments to YEIDA and not completing projects promised to buyers,” said YEIDA CEO Arunvir Singh.
“In light of the violation of lease deeds, it was decided during the board meeting that the land allotment be cancelled.” It remains to be seen what is next for the mega structure and if at all there is way for Indian GP to return to the F1 calendar.
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