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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) may soon find themselves a new home ground after the recent announcement of a new cricket stadium in Bengaluru.
The new stadium is located at Anekal near Bannerghatta National Park on the outskirts of the city. It is planned as a joint venture between the Karnataka State Government and the Karnataka Housing Board.
It is planned to be the second largest stadium in the world with a capacity of 80,000 seats, less than 90,000 at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Controversy in RCB house
RCB’s old home at M Chinnaswamy Stadium has been surrounded by controversies one after another since last year.
In 2025, RCB won the IPL trophy for the first time and held a victory parade on their home ground. Eleven people died in a stampede outside the stadium during the celebrations.
After that stampede, all cricket activities in the stadium were stopped. An investigation team formed by the government determined that the stadium was unsafe for large gatherings and ultimately closed it from hosting matches in the near future.
This meant that KSCA’s flagship tournament – the Maharaja T20 Trophy – was shifted to Mysore. Chinnaswamy Stadium had also lost the right to host the Women’s ODI World Cup and Men’s T20 World Cup held in India last year.
Barely any matches were held in this stadium even during the Indian domestic season.
The government finally gave the stadium approval to host matches in IPL 2026. But still, the ground hosted only five of RCB’s seven home matches, with the other two taking place in Raipur.
In April the stadium was once again embroiled in controversy. Karnataka state government MLAs said that they and their families should get reserved tickets for any match being held at the stadium, IPL or international. This demand was part of the reason why BCCI was forced to shift the IPL 2026 final to the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
₹943 crore investment in new stadium
The yet unnamed stadium is being built on a reported budget of ₹943 crore. It will be located at Suryanagar village in Anekal taluk of Bengaluru urban district.
The project will reportedly be completed in the next few years. Reports suggest that it will eventually be named after a former politician from Karnataka.
The government has previously said that the stadium will be funded through the Karnataka Housing Board and will not directly use taxpayers’ money.
Karnataka Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of the project
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah along with his deputy DK Shivakumar laid the foundation stone of the project.
There are some concerns about the location of the stadium, especially since there is no metro connectivity in the area, and land prices in the surrounding area are rising.
The stadium is also very close to the Bannerghatta National Park, an eco-sensitive area most famous for the zoo. Environmental concerns are also currently a court case.
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