Jaipur: A striking red, massive building complex dominates the neighbourhood of Pratap Nagar on the outskirts of Jaipur. This isn’t any commercial mall or residential society. It’s the WeWork of exam prep in the desert town—India’s first coaching hub that can accommodate more than 200 institutes.
The vision for it was grand: a bustling centre of learning for aspiring doctors, engineers, and IAS officers. Instead, it resembles a ghost town. A year after its completion, the complex, which sprawls over 67,000 sq m with world-class infrastructure, remains eerily empty. Only a handful of little-known coaching institutes have bought space here, drawing in just a few hundred students. The marble seating area is empty, as are the corridors, cavernous study halls, air-conditioned libraries, and well-equipped computer labs.
“Around 70 institutes applied for space in three phases. Of those, 28 deposited the token money, 10 paid the full amount, and only eight have claimed space so far,” said Rajasthan Housing Board resident engineer Prakash who is part of the project.
The price varies depending on space and floor, going for about Rs 4.5 crore for 4,000 square feet; the token amount is 5 per cent of the total.
I have stayed in Delhi, Prayagraj, and now in Jaipur. The same problems occur everywhere. But one thing is different in Rajasthan, which is that there is a solution to all those problems—Pratap Nagar. But nobody is bothering to opt for it
-Manish Sharma, teacher at a Gopalpura coaching centre
Even after the anger over the drowning of three students in the basement of a coaching centre last month, and the national spotlight on the dire living conditions in Delhi’s UPSC coaching hubs, Old Rajinder Nagar and Mukherjee Nagar, there is no rush in Jaipur to move to the gleaming new Pratap Nagar campus.
It is orderly, clean, spacious, and safe but coaching institutes seem reluctant to leave their cramped, hazardous setups. Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot built the ambitious Pratap Nagar Coaching Hub in 2023 to accommodate 224 coaching institutes and at least 70,000 students. Today, only a fraction have moved in—Kojaram IAS Academy, Binori Career Institute, and two others.
Congress MLA Indira Meena even raised the matter in the Rajasthan assembly.
“Even after the construction of a coaching hub in Jaipur, the government is not stopping all the coaching institutes from running in private buildings and basements. The future of children is being played with,” she later said outside the assembly.
Observers now say that the lukewarm response is because of business inertia and lopsided prioritising of revenues over student safety.
“Most of the coaching institutes focus on the revenue and run on a profit basis. Safety is not a priority. If they shift from there the entire ecosystem will get affected including house owners and small business owners. They won’t shift until the government puts an immense amount of pressure on the owners,” said an IAS officer, who used to live in Old Rajinder Nagar for his UPSC preparation, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Major players like ALLEN Career Institute, Drishti IAS, and Aakash Institute continue to operate out of residential neighbourhoods in Gopalpura some 5 km away, even though it has the ubiquitous problems of narrow roads, traffic congestion, waterlogging, and poor infrastructure.
“Unless the big coaching institutes don’t come here, this place won’t function as expected. The government has to make them move here,” said Shivram Choudhary, owner of a small coaching institute in Jaipur’s Gopalpura. He was planning to make the shift to Pratap Nagar as well, but is now having second thoughts.
Only when the big brands set up a base here will the rest follow.
The Coaching Hub was an initiative of former CM Ashok Gehlot to tackle the growing discontent among students and parents over the mercenary nature of the exam prep industry.
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Why old is winning over new
From basketball grounds to cycling tracks, the Coaching Hub has amenities on par with expensive private universities. For students, it’s like an international campus.
“I like it here. I’ve never seen seating areas like this made out of marble, or such a large cycling track. Our classroom halls are huge, and the washrooms are big and clean,” said Eshu Chaudhary, who is preparing for NEET to become a doctor. His coaching institute, which was in Jagatpura, shifted to the hub a few months ago.
The Coaching Hub has eight towers, five of which are ready. Each tower has five floors, three exits, and four lifts. Gyms, health clubs, food courts, restaurants, jogging and cycling tracks, and security surveillance are all available.
But with no hostel or PG facilities at Pratap Nagar, all the students are day scholars. Eshu lives in Pratap Nagar so the daily commute is not a problem.
“I’m glad we moved here, but I’m hoping that more institutes will open so that it becomes a more ‘happening’ place,” he added.
It’s not as easy as it seems to move. We have our buildings elsewhere, and the business is established. We know the facilities are better at the new hub, and eventually, we’ll have to move, but the plan is still in process.
-Member of the management at ALLEN Career Institute
“The hub’s capacity is 40,000 students, but since coaching institutes run classes in batches, the real capacity is much higher,” said Rajasthan Housing Board resident engineer Prakash.
Yet, the few institutes that have started operating from the Coaching Hub must contend with the fact that many promised facilities, like canteens and food courts, are not yet operational.
“Shifting here was a big decision but we thought this would give the students better facilities. But it is almost empty,” said a manager of Binori, which relocated from nearby Jagatpura three months ago.
Although it has wide roads and well-planned residential areas, Pratap Nagar is still an up-and-coming neighbourhood. Commercial hubs, malls, markets, schools, hospitals, and other pillars of any thriving locality have yet to be fully established.
It’s one of the reasons why big coaching institutes seem reluctant to relocate. Drishti IAS, NEXT IAS, ALLEN, and Aakash—each with thousands of students —maintain a strong presence in Gopalpura but have not shown much interest in buying space here, according to Prakash.
“It’s not as easy as it seems to move,” said a management member of ALLEN, one of the largest coaching institutes in Jaipur for NEET, JEE, and SSC. “We have our buildings elsewhere, and the business is established. We know the facilities are better at the new hub, and eventually, we’ll have to move, but the plan is still in process.”
Gopalpura, with nearly 500 coaching institutes and hostels, heaves with aspirants from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and other parts of Rajasthan. Much like Old Rajinder Nagar and Mukherjee Nagar, it has developed organically into a coaching hub. JEE, NEET, SSC, or UPSC—every major preparatory exam is covered here.
“The room rent in Gopalpura is Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000, and the facilities aren’t even that good. Sometimes the electricity goes out, and after heavy rains, the streets flood. We’ve heard about the Pratap Nagar Coaching Hub. We’ve seen reels about it on Instagram, but I don’t know why our coaching institutes aren’t moving there,” said 26-year-old Ashok Chaudhary from Haryana.
All the coaching hubs in state capitals—from Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar to Jaipur’s Gopalpura to Chennai’s Anna Nagar—have the same problems of bad infrastructure, high rent, and safety issues.
“I have stayed in Delhi, Prayagraj, and now in Jaipur. The same problems occur everywhere. But one thing is different in Rajasthan which is that there is a solution to all those problems—Pratap Nagar. But nobody is bothering to opt for it,” said Manish Sharma, who teaches history to UPSC aspirants at a coaching institute in Gopalpura.
The drowning of the three UPSC aspirants in the basement library of a coaching institute in Old Rajinder Nagar on 25 July sparked the usual outrage, protests, and knee-jerk reaction of civic authorities not just in Delhi but across India.
Jaipur’s municipal department sealed more than 38 institutes and issued notices for failure to adhere to safety norms to several others. But now, it’s back to business as usual.
Gopalpura’s rise as a coaching hub is a relatively recent phenomenon. Lalkothi, some 3 kilometres away, was where all the coaching institutes had congregated—until 2018 when the Rajasthan government ordered them to move out following complaints from residents. The matter even reached the district court, which subsequently banned coaching institutes in the area. Gopalpura stepped in to fill the vacuum—and the neighbourhood discovered a new economy revolving around the coaching industry. Residents opened their homes as paying guest accommodations and hostels started coming up, along with eateries, supermarts, reading rooms and stationery shops.
“Many people have built shops and even small coaching institutes here. It’s a very good source of income. If all the coaching institutes move to the new hub, there will be no income left,” said Manoj Singh, a resident and owner of a general store in the area.
Following the Delhi tragedy, representatives of over a dozen coaching institutes, like NEXT IAS, Drishti IAS, and Vajiram & Ravi, met with Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and agreed with a proposal to build a coaching hub in Narela or Rohini—where there’s abundant space.
But their branches in Jaipur haven’t made a bid at Pratap Nagar. In a statement last month, Vikas Divyakirti, a popular UPSC teacher and owner of Drishti IAS, said that the government should designate coaching hubs. The well-known institute, however, has yet to open shop at Pratap Nagar.
“Drishti IAS is not on the list of applicants,” said Prakash, who shared a copy of the applicant list. However, when contacted, a senior member of the management team at Drishti IAS said this was not the case.
“We have applied for space in the building, so any confusion must be on the government’s end,” he said, adding that their existing building at Gopalpura is located in a commercial zone.
“We adhere to all safety regulations. There are no violations on our part. The same standards will be upheld when we move to the new coaching hub at Pratap Nagar. We are also waiting for an official notice from the government, which we expect will direct all coaching institutes to relocate to the designated hub,” he added.
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Sticker shock
Smaller coaching institutes in Gopalpura that are looking to expand are open to shifting their base to Pratap Nagar where there is no dearth of space. But it’s a case of follow the leader—they want to see what the coaching giants do first.
Another challenge is the price point, which ranges from Rs 4,400-5,200 per square foot depending on the floor. The first and second floors are the cheapest, while the upper floors come at a premium. Many coaching institute owners allege that the Housing Board raised the prices by 36 per cent this year.
I converted my house into a hostel and invested Rs 2 lakh, but now, with such a delay, I feel like I’ve wasted my money
-Rupesh Chaudhary, a resident of Pratap Nagar
“If the rate was Rs 3,600 per square foot last year, it has increased to Rs 5,400 per square foot this year,” claimed Kojaram who runs an eponymous coaching institute at the Pratap Nagar hub, adding he has invested around Rs.4.5 crore in the new setup.
Rajasthan Housing Board officials dismissed these claims. They said that though the government has to recoup its “Rs 500 crore investment” in the project, the prices have not been hiked much.
“The Housing Board operates on a no-profit, no-loss basis. The accusations of high prices are baseless,” said residential engineer Prakash. “The price was never Rs 3,600 per square foot. Last year, it was Rs 4,400 to 4,600. They are just making excuses for not coming here.”
Smaller coaching institutes, meanwhile, have called for more affordable pricing options and more initiative from the government to get the big brands to relocate first.
“The government has developed a coaching hub, but we have bought our present buildings at very high rates. Buying another premise in the Coaching Hub will leave us at a loss,” said a coaching centre owner on anonymity.
Many government officials and smaller coaching institutes blame the current Rajasthan administration for neglecting the Pratap Nagar Coaching Hub and stalling its development.
An ecosystem in-waiting
When the Coaching Hub opened, Pratap Nagar residents quickly set up hostels and paying guest accommodations, expecting a flood of students. They’re anxiously waiting, hoping their investments will pay off.
“I converted my house into a hostel and invested Rs 2 lakh, but now, with such a delay, I feel like I’ve wasted my money,” said Rupesh Chaudhary, a resident of Pratap Nagar.
Other nascent businesses affiliated with the coaching hub, like stationery stores and eateries, are also growing impatient.
“We were told that around 70,000 students would be coming for classes and that all the big coaching institutes would be moving here,” said a shop owner who purchased a 400 sq ft commercial space for Rs 1 crore at an e-auction. “We thought all the businesses would shift here automatically, but the government isn’t doing anything about it. It was the previous Gehlot government that wanted to make this happen.”
Some people got shops for Rs 80 lakh, some for Rs 1 crore, and in some cases the amount crossed Rs 1 crore, according to Kojaram.
The Coaching Hub was an initiative of former CM Ashok Gehlot to tackle the growing discontent among students and parents over the mercenary nature of the exam prep industry. He inaugurated it last September, just before the 2023 state assembly elections.
But with the new Bhajan Lal Sharma-led BJP government in Rajasthan, the hub is struggling to gain momentum. Many government officials and smaller coaching institutes blame the current administration for neglecting it and stalling its development.
“This government isn’t taking the issue seriously. There are norms for running such institutes and they’re not being followed. The infrastructure with all the required facilities is ready, but the government isn’t making any effort to enforce the move,” alleged Yashowardhan Singh, state Congress spokesperson.
The government has been meeting with coaching institutes for the last few months, but no concrete actions have been taken, and no new buyers have emerged.
ThePrint tried to contact Jhabar Singh Kharra, Rajasthan minister for urban development & housing, for comment through calls, texts, and e-mails. This report will be updated if a response is received.
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A promised land for students
Back in Gopalpura, students like Ashok Chaudhary from Haryana are waiting for their institutes to shift to the hub, but are not sure when, or if, it will actually happen.
“I have seen news articles where they have all these facilities. I would love to have access to all this — it’s a great way to de-stress,” said Chaudhary. Much like Kota, he finds the atmosphere at Gopalpura stifling.
“Even when I step out of my PG, all I see are students studying, or going from one class to another. It’s so crowded that I find it difficult to even walk freely,” said Chaudhary, who is preparing for an entrance test for a government job.
The Old Rajinder Nagar drowning has students in Gopalpura on edge. In the days after the incident, many hesitated before going to basement libraries and classrooms.
Sarita, who is studying at Sarvottam Academy in Gopalpura worries about her safety. Her husband drops her every evening from their home 4-5km away and waits until she enters the building.
“I take two classes from 4-7 pm daily to prepare for my teaching exam. There are a lot of boys around here, and it’s very difficult for me to come out of the house to study,” Sarita said. “If the coaching hub starts functioning, my in-laws and husband would feel more secure since the safety measures there are better, and it feels more like a university.”
Every week, her husband asks her teachers if they have plans to move to Pratap Nagar—but so far, the answer is no.
“Pratap Nagar has wide roads, and there would be no safety concerns there. But I don’t get any reply from the teacher,” said Sarita’s husband, Jawahar. According to the couple, her Gopalpura academy has infrastructure for a hundred students but caters to double the number.
Students sit shoulder to shoulder, with no room to move. There is only one exit. In case of an emergency, a smooth evacuation seems unlikely.
“This is the situation in almost every coaching institute here. Almost every library is in a basement,” said Deepak Sehrawat, who is preparing for the SSC exam. “They pack students into halls like we’re soft toys, not humans.”