From Lucknow’s Bada Imambara to Delhi’s Ferozeshah Kotla- list of iconic Waqf properties in India worth ₹1.2 lakh cr | Today News (2025)

The Lok Sabha witnessed a heated debate between ruling and opposition Members of Parliament after Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju tabled the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2025 on Wednesday.

Rijiju criticised the UPA for designating 123 properties in Delhi as Waqf properties. He alleged that several of these properties would have been de-notified if the Narendra Modi-led government had not come to power.

“A case has been ongoing since 1970 in Delhi involving several properties, including the CGO Complex and the Parliament building. The Delhi Waqf Board had claimed these as Waqf properties,” he said.

Let's have a look at Waqf properties across India.

The website confirms that there are as many as 8,72,804 immovable properties of the Waqf board and 16,716 movable properties. UP's Sunni Central Board of Waqfs presides over the maximum number of properties in all categories.

According to a report published on September 13, 2024, the Press Information Bureau estimates that 8.7 lakh properties are currently controlled by Waqf Boards. These properties span 9.4 lakh acres across India and are estimated to be worth ₹1.2 lakh crores. Notably, India has the largest waqf holding in the World, making India's Waqf Board the largest landowner in the country, following the Armed Forces and the Indian Railways.

PIB describes Waqf properties as estates “dedicated exclusively for religious or charitable purposes under Islamic law, and any other use or sale of the property is prohibited". “Waqf properties are bestowed upon Allah, in the absence of a physically tangible entity, a ‘mutawalli’ is appointed by the waqif, or by a competent authority, to manage or administer a Waqf.”

ASI-protected monuments registered as waqfs in UP, under the Sunni and Shia Boards, include the Bada Imambada, the Dayanat-Ud-Daulah Karbala, Jama Masjid Nadan Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri dargah, Hindustan Times reported. Iconic sites in Delhi under the Waqf board include Jama Masjid at Ferozeshah Kotla, Chhoti Gumti Mukbara in RK Puram, Hauz Khas Masjid and Idgah. Surat Municipal Corporation building, which was historically used as sarai during Hajj in the Mughal era, falls in the Waqf property list.

The Karnataka Waqf Board claimed around 53 historic monuments across the state, including the iconic Gol Gumbaz, Ibrahim Rauza, Bara Kaman in Vijayapura, Bidar fort and Kalaburagi fort, Deccan Herald reported. Bengaluru Eidgah ground has also been claimed by the waqf administration since the 1850s. Around 43 monuments in Vijayapura were officially declared Waqf properties by the Board in 2005, the former capital of the Adil Shahi dynasty.

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