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‘Connectivity before stadium’: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw on Karnataka’s Rs 943 crore Anekal cricket venue tender
The Karnataka Housing Board issued a tender notice last week seeking bids to construct a cricket stadium at Anekal.
Earlier this month, Mazumdar-Shaw criticised the condition of Hosur Road in Bengaluru. (File Photo)
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairperson of Biocon Ltd and a prominent member of the civil society in Bengaluru, has questioned the Karnataka Government’s proposal to build a new 80,000-capacity cricket stadium in Anekal, on the outskirts of the city, citing inadequate public transport connectivity.
Mazumdar-Shaw questioned the move to build the new cricket stadium at Anekal after the Karnataka Housing Board (KHB) issued a tender notice last week seeking bids to construct it at a cost of Rs 943.36 crore.
“Unless there is good road and metro connectivity, it will be a white elephant. The metro ends far short of Anekal. The road infrastructure is primitive. So please build connectivity before the stadium,” Mazumdar-Shaw said in a social media post on April 11, tagging Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress president D K Shivakumar.
Earlier this month, Mazumdar-Shaw criticised the condition of National Highway 44 (viz Hosur Road) in Bengaluru, saying it was “shoddily designed and ill maintained”.
Please build road & metro connectivity before you embark on this project @DKShivakumar @DKSureshINC https://t.co/CLXMSSNuWo
— Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (@kiranshaw) April 11, 2026
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The Karnataka Housing Board issued tender notices through the public procurement portal to build a new cricket stadium at Surya Nagar 4th Phase KHB Layout, Indlawadi, in the Anekal Taluk of the Bengaluru Urban District.
KHB invited bids on April 7 from “CPWD/KPWD/Any other State Govt. registered eligible contractors in appropriate class/eligible firms/contractors of repute on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC MODE-1)” for the “Design, Engineering, Procurement and Construction of International Cricket Stadium and Allied Development Works…”
The proposed new cricket stadium at Anekal has been projected as necessary for Bengaluru, as the existing M Chinnaswamy Stadium, operated by the Karnataka State Cricket Association and which witnessed a stampede on June 4, 2025, has a capacity of only 38,000 spectators.
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Anekal, which has been a part of rural Bengaluru and is located on the Tamil Nadu border, is witnessing large-scale real estate development, but public transport services like the Bengaluru Metro have not reached the area and currently halt a few km away.
KHB initially gave in-principle approval for the implementation of an international-level cricket stadium and complex on a 75-acre plot of land in Indlavadi village, under the Comprehensive Development Plan in Suryanagar-4th Phase Layout, Bangalore City, at a cost of Rs 2,350 crore.
The proposal for the new stadium was expedited last year after the stampede at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, where 11 people were killed during a surge of fans of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru while trying to enter the stadium to witness the IPL franchise’s victory celebration.
A judicial commission set up under retired high court judge Justice John Michael D’Cunha to probe the June 4, 2025, Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede recommended that no major public events be held at the stadium until safety measures are installed.
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