Plans for a Grand Prix in India date to at least 1997, when a race at Calcutta was first discussed. By 2003 India had only two permanent raceways — one in Chennai and the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore — and two sites near Bangalore airport were being examined. Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu reserved 1,500 acres of land near Hyderabad airport for a potential circuit, and in December 2003 a seven-year pre-agreement was signed to host a race at Hyderabad in 2007, with the proposed track to be built near Gopanapally village. Vicky Chandhok, father of Karun Chandhok, commented publicly on the strong political backing from Andhra Pradesh.
Competition arose in 2004 from Mumbai as an alternative venue. Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One’s commercial rights holder, expected India to host a Grand Prix within three years, targeting either Hyderabad or Mumbai. Both projects were abandoned — possibly due to anti-tobacco legislation and changes in government policy — and the Hyderabad site was later converted to an IT park.
By 2007 five locations remained under consideration: Bangalore, the Gurgaon district in Haryana, a permanent track near New Delhi, a New Delhi street circuit proposed by Vijay Mallya, and a site in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The Indian Olympic Association and Ecclestone announced a provisional agreement in June 2007 for India to host its first Grand Prix as part of the 2009 Formula One season, with a circuit to be built in Gurgaon in consultation with architect Hermann Tilke. The debut was subsequently pushed to 2010 and then again to 2011.
Several teams ran demonstration events around India ahead of the inaugural race. In October 2008 the Renault F1 team toured Gurgaon, Lucknow, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Kolkata. In November 2008 Nelson Piquet Jr drove the Renault car on Rajpath at the India Gate end in New Delhi. In August 2009 the McLaren team demonstrated their car in Lucknow. In October 2009 Red Bull Racing visited Mumbai, where David Coulthard drove the Red Bull car across the Bandra–Worli Sea Link.
The Buddh International Circuit, designed by Hermann Tilke, measures 5.125 km and was built across 875 acres as part of Jaypee Green Sports City. Four million cubic tons of earth were moved to create the circuit’s varied elevation. The race was not subsidised by government; the venue paid $40 million per year to Formula One Holdings. The Indian Grand Prix had the potential to generate around $170 million in revenue and employ up to 10,000 people, and it coincided with the Diwali holiday when consumer spending is typically at its highest.
In August 2013 the FIA announced the race would miss the 2014 season before returning in an early-season slot in 2015. A tax dispute between the FIA and the Uttar Pradesh government then led to the 2015 edition being cancelled. The state government, led by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, ruled that Formula One was entertainment rather than sport and levied taxes accordingly. A return in 2016 was discussed but no resolution was reached, and the race has not been restored to the calendar since. Despite circuit signage indicating “New Delhi,” the Buddh International Circuit lies in Uttar Pradesh, not in the union territory of Delhi.
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