Delhi to Relocate Overcrowded Tihar Jail, Allocates Funds in Budget
NEW DELHI, March 27 – Tihar Jail, South Asia’s largest prison complex, is set to be relocated as part of efforts to ease overcrowding and improve inmate conditions, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced while presenting the 2025-26 budget. The government has allocated ₹10 crore ($1.2 million) for the relocation and related expenses.
The high-security prison, currently housing nearly double its intended capacity, will be moved to the outskirts of the national capital, Gupta said. Authorities are seeking 100 acres of land for the new facility, following a failed attempt to acquire land in Baprola due to encroachment, a jail official told PTI.
Tihar Jail, established in 1958 and transferred to Delhi’s control in 1966, was originally designed to hold 10,026 inmates. However, it currently accommodates around 19,500 prisoners. Jail Numbers 1 to 9, meant for 5,000 inmates, now house over 12,000, while Jail Numbers 10 to 16 hold more than 3,900 inmates against a capacity of 3,700.
The prison has housed several high-profile inmates, including Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was jailed alongside party colleagues Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, and Satyendar Jain in connection with the Delhi Liquor Policy case. Other notorious inmates have included gangster Chhota Rajan, former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, and international serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who once escaped from Tihar before being recaptured in Goa.
The Delhi government has yet to finalize the new prison’s location, but the move is expected to address longstanding concerns over prisoner conditions and security risks in the aging facility.
