What it costs to learn drifting at India's only dedicated drift track

India has exactly one purpose built drift track open to the public: Balola Motorplex in Gurugram, run by the drift school Bad Boi Drifts. A day there costs anywhere from ₹5,000 if you bring your own rear wheel drive car, to several lakh for a multi day course in one of the school's own drift cars. Here is what each option gets you, and what it actually costs.

Bringing your own rear wheel drive car

Bad Boi Drifts calls this package Arrive and Drift. You pay ₹5,000 for a full day of track time, provided your car is rear wheel drive. On top of that there is a ₹3,000 track support fee plus 18 per cent GST for every slot you book, which covers a crew for tyre changes and track marshalling. The listing asks drifters to book at least 48 hours ahead and to bring spare tyres already mounted on wheels, since there is no tyre fitting service at the track. This fee does not include an instructor, fuel, tyres or damage cover. You are on your own car, and at your own risk.

Training in the school's own cars

If you do not have a drift ready car, Bad Boi Drifts runs a three tier course, each in a built Mercedes Benz C Class with a supercharger, a welded differential and a hydraulic handbrake. Rookie is a single day with three hours of seat time on a skid pad, priced at ₹1.5 lakh for one person or ₹1.25 lakh each if you book with a friend, excluding GST. Semi Pro runs two days with six hours of drive time on the full track, at ₹2.9 lakh solo or ₹2.6 lakh each for two or more. Pro is the top tier, a three day course with nine hours of drive time, priced at ₹3.8 lakh, which the school says takes a driver from basics to a competition ready standard. All three include fuel, tyres, damage cover and a high speed lap with a professional driver. The school also sells a monthly membership for unlimited track access.

Who is teaching you, and who built the car

Bad Boi Drifts was founded by Mudit Grover, who holds India's national record for the longest continuous drift at 19 minutes and 20 seconds, and Mugdha Grover, whom the school describes as the country's first female drifter. If you would rather own a dedicated drift car than rent the school's, its in house build partner Garage 82 prices a track ready build at ₹13 lakh to ₹15 lakh, on top of whatever you paid for the donor car.

Where else you can drift in India

Outside Gurugram, organised drifting in India is still rare. The clearest sign that a national body is taking it seriously came on October 16, when JK Tyre ran the country's first dedicated drift competition at the Buddh International Circuit, with 25 rear wheel drive cars judged on line, angle, style and speed by a panel that included a former FIA Drift Commission member. JK Tyre's motorsport head Sanjay Sharma said the event was run with FMSCI's help to start formalising rules for the sport in India. Until a wider competitive series exists, Balola Motorplex remains the one place in the country where anyone, racer or hobbyist, can turn up and drift on a track built for exactly that.

Sources

• Bad Boi Drifts, FAQs
• Bad Boi Drifts, Arrive & Drift
• Bad Boi Drifts, Rookie Training
• Bad Boi Drifts, Semi Pro Training
• Car India, Bad Boi Drifts School: Balancing Throttle and Steering
• Motoring World, Bad Boi Drifts: Slide-Whips
• xBhp, Sideways or the Highway ft Bad Boi Drifts
• JK Tyre Motorsport, JK Tyre Motorsport forays into Drifting