Delhi Master Plan for 2047 to be tabled today at DDA meeting for approval

The Master Plan for Delhi (MPD) 2047 is set to be discussed and potentially approved at a meeting of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Wednesday, according to sources. If the plan receives approval, the Central government will likely notify it shortly after, a source told The Indian Express. The DDA has not responded to requests for comment on the matter.

Previously, in June, the Indian Express reported that the Union government was considering changing the horizon year of the Delhi Master Plan 2041 from 2041 to 2047, among other issues including land pooling, green development area, and the Yamuna O-Zone, an eco-sensitive protected floodplain. The MPD has been delayed by five years since its approval on February 28, 2023.

The MPD 2041 was initially submitted to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) for notification on April 13, 2023, but missed several deadlines, including a 100-day deadline set by the MoHUA following the 2024 re-election of the Narendra Modi government. Bhupender Bazad, chairman of the Delhi Master Plan Committee and representing the rural group Delhi Dehat Vikas Manch (DDVM), met with Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta recently, and he has indicated that there are strong indications that the Master Plan will soon be approved.

In June, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal stated that the Master Plan 2041 would be finalized after a final meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, adding that only a few minor suggestions and one final meeting remain. The MPD 2047 will address various aspects of Delhi's urban planning, with one significant focus being the policy regarding unauthorized colonies in the Yamuna's O-Zone, which houses over five lakh people.

This policy is being reviewed in light of a recent Delhi High Court order that deemed residential colonies in the eco-sensitive floodplain to be "completely impermissible." Meanwhile, the government has recently introduced a new Transit Oriented Development (TOD) policy for Delhi, which aims to encourage high-density development near Metro corridors.

Additionally, the government has decided to regularize 1,511 unauthorized colonies on a "as-is-where-is" basis, effectively eliminating the need for an approved layout plan. The Delhi government has also updated its slum rehabilitation policy, extending the cut-off date by nearly ten years, from January 1, 2015, to January 1, 2025.