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Once a key business street, Asaf Ali road now a derelict road

Dec 11, 2023 11:06 AM IST

A sought after address by businesses in 1950s and 1980s, Asaf Ali Road in central Delhi, is now a picture of civic apathy

Rajesh Palta, Delhi’s oldest surviving typewriter dealer in Kamla Market, reminisces about Asaf Ali Road as the city’s most happening financial district in the 1950s to 1980s. “Every big business in old Delhi had a dream to open an office here. Those days it was the most sought-after corporate address,” says Palta, 71.“I know today it will be hard to believe so, considering its current derelict condition,” he says.

Asaf Ali Road was once Delhi’s most bustling financial district because before the office high-rises around Connaught Place came up in the 1970s (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)
Asaf Ali Road was once Delhi’s most bustling financial district because before the office high-rises around Connaught Place came up in the 1970s (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

Today, Asaf Ali Road, located at the confluence of old and New Delhi, is a sorry picture of civic apathy and gross neglect of built heritage. Footpaths are broken, drains are overflowing, buildings are in disrepair, and as one walks its crumbling corridors, taken over by squatters, there is a sense of dereliction all around the place.

Palta is not exaggerating when he refers to it as once being the city’s most bustling financial district because before the office high-rises around Connaught Place came up in the 1970s, Asaf Ali Road was the place to be for corporate offices. It was home to Delhi Stock Exchange and some of India’s top pharmaceutical, engineering, insurance and finance companies, banks and typewriter manufacturers.

Several buildings along the road are in disrepair, and the corridors are full of filth and taken over by squatters. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)
Several buildings along the road are in disrepair, and the corridors are full of filth and taken over by squatters. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

The history of Asaf Ali Road dates back to the 1930s when the Imperial government established the Delhi Improvement Trust (DIT) to address issues of insanitation, congestion, and slums in the old city.

“The administration’s perception of Shahjahanabad as a dangerous, unhealthy space, which had to be kept separate from New Delhi, is best illustrated by the controversy over the city wall on the southern side. In the plan of the new city, a wide strip of land had been left vacant as a cordon sanitaire between the limits of New Delhi and the wall of Shahjahanabad. Proposals to dismantle the wall in order to free up more space, or even due to concerns of safety since the wall was damaged in parts, were vigorously resisted by the New Delhi Municipal Committee (NDMC, a precursor to the New Delhi Municipal Council) which had been set up in 1927,” writes historian Swapna Liddle in her book, Chandni Chowk: The Mughal City of Old Delhi.

Besides the general wear and tears, at several places drains along Asaf Ali Road are overflowing. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)
Besides the general wear and tears, at several places drains along Asaf Ali Road are overflowing. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

The proposal to dismantle the wall , the book points out, faced great resistance from NDMC, which saw the population of Shahjahanabad and the civic problems in the area as a contagion that had to be kept hidden from view and contact with the new capital . “When the need to demolish the wall was finally accepted, it was with the condition that a row of buildings with aesthetic facades should face the road and that the ‘slums’ within be cleared and redeveloped,” writes Liddle.

“Indeed, the idea behind the long row of the office- cum- showrooms that exist today at Asaf Ali Road was to hide the slums of the walled city,” says AK Jain, former commissioner, planning, Delhi Development Authority, which was a precursor of Delhi Improvement Trust (DIT). “This was, in fact, the first project of DIT and it was called the Delhi Ajmeri Gate Scheme,” he adds.

DIT auctioned plots to individuals and companies, and construction commenced in the 1940s. Organized into four blocks, the scheme allowed for the development of four-storey buildings and basements, making Asaf Ali Road home to the tallest structures in the city during that period. By the mid-1950s, Asaf Ali Road was a bustling commercial district. Many of the new office buildings were named after the companies or members of the business families that built them—Kundan House, Laxman House, Jamna Bhawan, and Essel House, among others.

In addition to being the home of several business houses and their regional offices, Asaf Ali Road hosted the Delhi Stock Exchange. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)
In addition to being the home of several business houses and their regional offices, Asaf Ali Road hosted the Delhi Stock Exchange. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

In sharp contrast to neighbouring Daryaganj’s Art Deco architecture, the buildings at Asaf Ali Road boasted modernist architecture. This style, which emerged in the early to mid-20th century, is characterised by a break from traditional architectural forms and a focus on functionality, minimalism, efficiency, and a rejection of ornamentation, reflecting the technological, social and economic changes of the time.

Among the first companies to establish a presence were Delhi Stock Exchange, Hochest, a multinational pharmaceutical company; Hamdard, the makers of Rooh Afza; and MGF, one of India’s leading non-banking finance companies that pioneered automobile financing in the country. The company was founded by Ved Prakash Gupta, a Delhi businessman. Asaf Ali Road also boasted some of the country’s prominent financiers, including Onkarmul Shankar Lal and Dharam Singh Ram Singh, among others.

Many top companies such as Godrej, Hero, Voltas, Hindustan Unilever, and Hero Cycles also set up their regional branch offices here. “A lot of the early firms at Asaf Ali Road shifted from Kashmere Gate, whose owners lived in Civil Lines. With the influx of businesses, banks, insurance companies, other financial institutions also set up operations,” says Sydney Rebeiro, 81, a former dean at Delhi University.

Asaf Ali Road also used to be the hub of stationery and typewriter dealers, with showrooms of many typewriting brands such as Remington, Facit, Godrej, Smith Corona, Underwood, Olympia, Hermes, and Halda. Some typewriter dealers, such as Chawla Typewriters, had contracts to service typewriters for government offices in Delhi, including those in South Block and North Block.

“In the early 1970s, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s typewriter, which had come to us for repair, was stolen after a break-in at our place. We still have a copy of the insurance settlement paper signed by a young Rajiv Gandhi,” said Sunil Chawla, owner of Chawla Typewriters in an earlier interview with HT. “Anyone wanting to buy or repair a typewriter had to come to Asaf Ali Road. Delhi’s top writers and journalists also frequented the place. There was a time when our shop employed about 50 typewriter mechanics,” says Palta

The opening of Delite Cinema, in 1954, transformed Asaf Ali Road from being solely a business district into a social and cultural hot spot. “Like most other cinema halls of the time, Delite, too, initially hosted both cinema and live performances,” says Rebeiro.

Delite Cinema came up on Asaf Ali Road in 1954. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)
Delite Cinema came up on Asaf Ali Road in 1954. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

Two years later, in 1956, Hotel Broadway, the city’s first high-rise hotel, opened on Asaf Ali Road. The hotel attracted many tourists who coveted its back rooms that offered stunning views of the old city. It was the first hotel in Delhi to introduce a bed and breakfast system, with the tariff for a single room with bed and breakfast costing 15. Its restaurant, Chor Bizarre—opened in the 1990s—was the first swish restaurant in town to offer Kashmiri cuisine. Its patrons included tourists, expats, and many Bollywood stars, including Sharmila Tagore and Shashi Kapoor.

Hotel Broadway closed down in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. “It was a final blow to the reputation and status of Asaf Ali Road,” says Piyush Gupta, director, Prabhat Prakashan, one of India’s largest publication houses, located in a four-storey building on Asaf Ali Road. “The area’s decline began in the early 2000s, with the increasing neglect by municipal authorities and the growing congestion, traffic and parking problems”.

Sanjay Gupta, director, Sab Properties, a real estate company, on Asaf Ali Road, says that when he started his business in the early 1980s, there was huge demand for office spaces. “Quite a lot of it came from stockbrokers. In fact, the Delhi Stock Exchange, which facilitated the trading of stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments, added a lot of vibrancy to this street,” he says.

Hotel Broadway, the city’s first high-rise hotel, opened on Asaf Ali Road in 1956. The hotel shut down in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Raj K Raj/HT photo)
Hotel Broadway, the city’s first high-rise hotel, opened on Asaf Ali Road in 1956. The hotel shut down in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Raj K Raj/HT photo)

“But in the late 1990s, many companies here started moving to Gurgaon and Noida. Today, we have a few clients. Those who come looking for property to rent return after seeing the filth and overall derelict atmosphere in the area. The rents are cheap; a 4,000-square-foot space can be rented for 2 lakh a month, but still, there are a few takers despite its central location,” says Gupta. No wonder then, along the road, there are several buildings with ‘space available for rent’ sign boards.

Delite Cinema and Hamdard building are among the few buildings on Asaf Ali Road that have well-preserved exteriors. Many buildings, Sanjay Gupta points out, are in poor condition because they are occupied by tenants who pay rent of a few hundred rupees. “So, owners do not want to invest in them, and they are slowly crumbling,” says Gupta, adding that Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) should work to spruce up the area to revive it.

Aaley Iqbal, deputy mayor, MCD, said that the corporation is working on a plan for the rejuvenation of public spaces in and around the walled city such as Asaf Ali road. “After Jama Masjid area redevelopment, we will focus these iconic markets. They should get as much importance as Connaught Place,” he added.

A senior municipal official said that Asaf Ali Road was under the erstwhile North MCD which had been reeling under acute financial crisis over the last decade. “We were unable to pay salary and pension to the employees. We are trying to spruce up the public spaces but the owners of these buildings and users should also contribute to ensure general cleanliness,” the official added.

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Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.
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