For affordable housing for the mid-segment and economically weaker section

The Delhi government’s notification to declare 89 rural villages of 95 as urban areas will help to operationalise the land pooling policy in the national capital and pave the way for affordable housing for the mid-segment and economically weaker section.
Buildings & roads are seen from an airplane flying over New Delhi. The city govt’s notification to declare 89 rural villages as urban will help authorities to develop infrastructure projects in such localities and make housing more affordable
Buildings & roads are seen from an airplane flying over New Delhi. The city govt’s notification to declare 89 rural villages as urban will help authorities to develop infrastructure projects in such localities and make housing more affordable © Reuters

“The decision will open up land parcels in areas such as Dwarka. Over the next 12 months, we expect a number of housing projects for both the mid-segment and economically weaker section to come up in the city, which will also control residential prices,” said Rohan Sharma, associate director (research & real estate intelligence service) at JLL, a property consultant. 

With an estimated 57,000 hectares (140,000 acres) of land to be unlocked, rating agency Icra expects the policy to create around 2.9 million houses with an average size of 30 square metres (322 sq ft) for the economically weaker section.

“The move will boost the land pooling policy. Such a development in turn will result in a healthy availability of residential dwelling units,” said Rajeev Talwar, chief executive officer at DLF, the country’s largest property developer. 

According to the land pooling policy, a group of owners with small chunks of land come together and give their pooled land to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to form a bigger and more integrated parcel. Basic infrastructure facilities are developed on this land through private participation, within the framework of the Master Plan of Delhi, 2021, and respective zonal development plans. A part of the land is returned to the owners who can partner with real estate developers to build apartments and residential properties. The rest is retained and developed by DDA. 

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