Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, on Wednesday, said Master Plan-2041 will be a visionary document which will usher a new era of development of the National Capital as it will have policies for regeneration of existing colonies, Greenfield development through Land Pooling and Green Development Area policy with provision of enhanced Floor Area Ratio (FAR).

Addressing a press conference ahead of the MCD polls on December 4, Puri said, “Master Plan-2041, which is in the final stages now, is going to be a visionary document to usher in a new era of development of Delhi.”

Speaking about the regeneration of housing in the Master Plan, the Union Minister said the city of Delhi has a built form which is more than 50 years old. The housing colonies developed in the 1970s by DDA are Hauz Khas, Shekh Sarai, Malviya Nagar, Munirka, Rajinder nagar, etc. The FAR for group housing was 133 in the 1962 plan till 1981, it was enhanced to 167 in the 2001 plan. In 2021, the FAR was enhanced to 200, and regeneration FAR (after demolishing and rebuilding) is envisaged in the master plan for Delhi-2041, at a fixed rate ranging from 260 to 340, depending on the plot size, larger the plot size, higher the FAR.

He said that the provision of regeneration has been incorporated in the Draft MPD 2041 which will help the people of Delhi to redevelop/reconstruct their old dilapidated structure with provision of enhanced FAR to make their living condition better and safe. The above provisions would cater to increase in Dwelling Unit size/number of dwelling units and toilets to cater to increase in family size and population, improvement in layout, accessibility through road network plan and improvement in parking.

Puri also shared the efforts by the Union government to promote Greenfield development. He said, “In order to promote Greenfield development, emphasis has been laid on development of urban extension areas through land pooling, where areas will be developed by Public private partnership. The Land Pooling portal was launched in February 2019 and till now, 7087 applications have been received from the land owners expressing their willingness to participate in the scheme. As on date, around 7400 hectares of land has been pooled. Notices have been issued in six sectors to form consortiums where more than 70 per cent land owners have shown their willingness and there are many more in the pipeline.”

Adding further, the Union Minister said implementation of the policy, a continuous stakeholder consultation has been in the process. During these consultations, various teething problems like mutation of land, stamp duty, contiguity of 70 per cent pooled land, etc, have been identified. To resolve these bottlenecks in implementation of Land Pooling, the government has decided to facilitate the participants of land pooling by way of amendment in DD Act 1957, wherein the concept of mandatory pooling (to achieve the contiguity in a sector) has been proposed. The proposal is being placed before Parliament.

Puri further said the housing scheme under ‘Jahan Jhuggi Wahan Makaan’ will benefit around 10 lakh people in the National Capital.

The Union Minister said, “As per the census of 2011, the population of Delhi was 1.67 crore. When the next census comes then the population of Delhi will be more than 2 crore. For this population our schemes which are currently going on include Jahan Jhuggi Wahan Makaan, under this there would be 10 lakh beneficiaries.”

Talking about another scheme called PM Uday, the Union Minister said, “The scheme is for regularisation of unauthorised colonies which will benefit about 50 lakh people.

The third scheme is land pooling which we started recently and as per our assessment there would be 75 lakhs beneficiaries,” he said.

“So for the population of 2 crores, 1.35 crore citizens of Delhi will benefit from our re-development plan. This is a broad outline,” the Union Minister said.

He further informed, “Census 2011 indicated Delhi’s population as 1.67 crore. Now it is the most populous urban agglomeration in the world (second only to Tokyo) with around 2 crore citizens. Delhi’s population in 2041 is estimated at 2.92 crores. Delhi being the capital city of the world’s fifth largest economy is like a dynamic growing organism. ‘Sabka Vikas’ in the city is being assured by ensuring urban development through various mechanisms”.

“The BJP Government has also taken steps to improve the living conditions of jhuggi dwellers as per the guidelines of PMAY (Urban). In Delhi there are 675 clusters, out of which 376 clusters (comprising 1.72 lakh households) are on DDA and Central Govt lands”, he said.

The Union Minister also gave an update on DDA survey and said, “DDA has completed a survey of 210 clusters, wherein application forms of the dwellers have been taken through digital mode. The Survey work of the remaining 166 will commence immediately after municipal elections and will be completed by March 2023”.

Alleging the failure of the Kejriwal Government, he said, “There are 299 JJ clusters where the responsibility for rehabilitation has been cast on Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), which falls under Delhi Government. Unfortunately, no work has been carried out to date”.