GMDA gets 150 crore EDC from DTCP, to speed up infra projects in city

The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) will get 150 crore of external development charges (EDC) from the department of town and country planning (DTCP) this month, which will help speed up infrastructure projects in the city, said officials on Thursday.

CEO of GMDA Sudhir Rajpal held a meeting with officials from DTCP on Tuesday, where the latter sanctioned an amount of 250 crore– 150 crore for GMDA and 100 crore for Faridabad Metropolitan Development Authority.

“These funds will be used for the development of urban infrastructure and services in Gurugram and Faridabad. The amount of 250 crore has been sanctioned for now. With the funds available to us, we can plan development activities for the city in a better manner. Our projects will also not get delayed due to lack of funds…The funds will be used for… laying sewage infrastructure, boosting drinking water supply, drainage system of the city and construction of roads,” said Rajpal.

For the fiscal 2022-2023, the GMDA is supposed to receive approximately 1003 crore from the DTCP as EDC funds, of which the corpus of 250 crore is the first instalment.

The EDC refers to the money that private developers pay to the government when developing new real estate projects. These funds are utilised by urban local bodies to develop public amenities for the project’s benefit, such as roads, water, power, sewerage and drainage. The quantum of EDC is decided by relevant local authorities, such as the GMDA or the DTCP, and then typically passed on to property buyers by the developer.

Since the pandemic, the EDC collection dropped significantly, compounding the financial constraints for the authority. Last year, the GMDA restructured its EDC payment schedule and allowed developers to pay their dues in instalments and offered discounts to those who cleared their outstanding dues in one go.

In July last year, the DTCP had formed a task force comprising senior officials to recover pending EDC to the tune of 8,000 crore from developers across the state. During a two-day Urban Development Conclave held in Gurugram in February this year, officials from DTCP said the state is yet to receive 15,585 crore from developers, which includes interest and penal interest on the principal amount, in the form of EDC.