Draft of New Noida master plan ready, say officials

The draft master plan of New Noida is ready and likely to be finalised soon, Noida authority officials said Tuesday.

On January 3, 2021, the Uttar Pradesh government added 80 more villages to Noida with an aim to ready industrial land, and create space for manufacturing units and financial institutions because there is no more land available to allot to businesses in the existing city. In June 2021, the Noida authority roped in the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), Delhi, which prepared the draft master plan.

“We have got the draft master plan New Noida. SPA is likely to give a presentation regarding the draft this week– probably on Thursday. After the presentation, we will discuss the way the master plan should be finalised,” said Ritu Maheshwari, chief executive officer of the Noida authority.

Once the draft is discussed on Thursday, the authority will suggest changes and then approve it in its next board meeting. The master plan must then be approved by the UP government before development work begins at the site, said officials.

As per the draft plan, New Noida will be developed on the Gurugram model as a hub of manufacturing and financial institutions. Farmers will be given a share in the commercial, industrial and other projects that will come up in the new city. However, the authority to yet to finalise all the modalities, said officials. Under the Gurugram model, a developer gets a license to buy land directly from a farmer or landowner, unlike the existing Noida model under which the authority buys the land from farmers, develops it and then allots it to realtors, corporate houses and other investors.

Currently, Noida is spread on 20,000 hectares of land. The authority requires 20,000 hectares more for the expansion, for which it plans to acquire land from 60 Bulandshahr villages and 20 Gautam Budh Nagar, officials said.

“The authority may adopt land pooling policy to procure land from farmers, who will also have a stake in projects in the new city. But everything will be finalised only once the master plan is ready,” said a Noida authority official, requesting anonymity.