Slug: lahore-gymkhana-rs5000-rent-row
Category: National
Focus keyphrase: Lahore Gymkhana rent Punjab Assembly committee
SEO title: Lahore Gymkhana Admits Rs5,000 Rent for 100 Acres Inadequate
Meta description: Lahore Gymkhana’s chairman told a Punjab Assembly panel that Rs5,000 a year for 100 acres of state land is indefensible and should be at least Rs10m.
Tags: Lahore Gymkhana, Punjab Assembly, state land, rent, Salman Siddique, public assets, accountability, Lahore
Original element: own data point — the arithmetic of the concession: Rs5,000 a year against land valued at Rs76-218 billion means the state has been collecting roughly two-millionths of one per cent of the asset’s value annually, a figure no lease review in decades ever corrected.
Lahore Gymkhana Admits Rs5,000 Rent for 100 Acres Inadequate
LAHORE: The Lahore Gymkhana Club’s chairman has acknowledged that the Rs5,000 annual rent for more than 100 acres of prime state land is inadequate, suggesting it should be raised to at least Rs10 million.
The admission came before the Punjab Assembly’s Special Committee No. 6, chaired by MPA Samiullah Khan, which on Wednesday questioned how successive governments had allowed the arrangement to continue for decades without proper valuation or oversight.
The committee was informed that the land’s estimated value ranged from Rs76 billion to Rs218 billion. Members questioned the government’s failure to secure an appropriate public return from an asset of such magnitude, stressing that institutional autonomy could not exempt the club from accountability for its occupation and use of state land.
Appearing before the committee alongside members of the club’s management, Chairman Salman Siddique acknowledged the lawmakers’ concerns and expressed willingness to provide the relevant record and cooperate in the inquiry.
Surprised by the figure himself
Siddique said he was himself surprised by the nominal annual rent, particularly in view of the extent of the land occupied by the club and its improved financial position.
Comparing the club’s present circumstances with the financial constraints it had faced during the 1990s, he said the annual rent should be at least Rs10 million — two thousand times the current figure, yet still a fraction of the land’s worth.
The arithmetic is stark. At Rs5,000 a year on land worth up to Rs218 billion, the state has been collecting roughly two-millionths of one per cent of the asset’s value annually. No government in decades subjected the lease to a proper valuation.
The members said the acknowledgment had reinforced the need to determine why successive government authorities had allowed the arrangement to continue without scrutiny. They stressed that the responsibility for protecting public assets rested with the relevant government institutions, which were required to enforce lease conditions and ensure accountability.
The scrutiny of state land in Punjab is not new. Residents of Islamabad’s G-13 and G-14 sectors have been caught between two authorities over double property tax — another case where public land management has left citizens and the exchequer short-changed while institutions passed the responsibility around.
Frequently asked questions
How much rent does Lahore Gymkhana pay?
The club pays Rs5,000 a year for more than 100 acres of prime state land in Lahore — a figure its own chairman has now called inadequate.
What should the rent be, according to the chairman?
Chairman Salman Siddique told the Punjab Assembly committee the annual rent should be at least Rs10 million, noting the club’s improved financial position compared to the 1990s.
What is the land worth?
The committee was informed the land’s estimated value ranges from Rs76 billion to Rs218 billion.
*Source: The Express Tribune, October 22, 2026*
