Centre exploring ways to finance 7 government colonies in Delhi

The Centre is exploring new options to finance its ambitious redevelopment project of seven government colonies in south Delhi due to several changes in the original plan approved in 2016, said two senior ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) officials aware of the matter said on Tuesday.

Of the seven general pool residential accommodation (GPRA) colonies, 1,411 flats at Thyagraj Nagar (703 flats) and Mohammadpur (708 flats) are ready and will be inaugurated by Union housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday.

Last month, MoHUA had sent the project to the public investment board under the finance ministry for review, officials said.

Among the new projects is a 14-km elevated corridor to decongest the area. The proposed corridor will run between INA at Aurobindo Marg to the Mahipalpur underpass at National Highway-48 and will connect all the flyovers between Moolchand and Moti Bagh, just before the start of the elevated Metro corridor on the Ring Road, officials aware of the matter said.

The corridor, a senior DDA official said, will be an alternate route to the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, covering all the GPRA colonies in south Delhi. The Central Public Works Department, which has been tasked with its construction, is working on preparing the details of the project, said a CPWD official.

A senior MoHUA official, requesting anonymity said, “There have been a lot of changes in the original project plan. For instance, the 14-km elevated corridor was added to the project later on. Due to several changes, the department of expenditure (under the finance ministry) had asked us to send the project to the public investment board for review. Once approved, it will be placed before the Cabinet for approval.”

In 2016, the Centre approved the redevelopment of seven GPRA colonies located in Sarojini Nagar, Nauroji Nagar, Kasturba Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Srinivaspuri, Mohammadpur and Thyagraj Nagar to construct close to 25,667 dwelling units — there were 12,970 dwelling units in these seven residential colonies earlier — at an estimated cost of 32,835 crore.The project is being implemented on a self-financing scheme by sale of commercial components at Nauroji Nagar and part of Sarojini Nagar. The National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC India) has been tasked with the construction of three government colonies (Sarojini Nagar, Nauroji Nagar and Netaji Nagar), and to raise funds for the project, while the Central Public Works Department will redevelop the remaining four colonies. The deadline of the project has been extended from 2023 to December 2025, officials said.

A second MoHUA official said various options are being explored to finance the GPRA project. There are five land parcels measuring 60 acres in the area where the colonies are located. “The government can either construct commercial/residential units and sell or sell the land parcels. There options are being explored,” the official said, requesting anonymity.A senior NBCC India official, who declined to be named, said, “Close to 12,000 crore will be raised from the sale of commercial space at Nauroji Nagar, of which we have already sold inventory worth ₹6,000 crore. We have invited bids for the bulk sale of 622 commercial units at our Downtown project at Sarojini Nagar and plan to raise around 1300 crore from it. Other options to raise funds are being explored.”

In February, minister of state for housing and urban affairs Kaushal Kishore, in a written response to a question in Lok Sabha, informed the House that the reinforced cement concrete (RCC) structure at Nauroji Nagar is 85% completed and “finishing & services works are in progress”.

“(At) Sarojini Nagar: The project comprises of GPRA and Commercial property. The work of GPRA and Commercial property has been taken up and the progress achieved as on date is as follows: (i) Package-I (Type II Qtrs) : 31%. (ii) Package-III (Commercial): 45%. (iii) Package-VA (Type IV Qtrs): Approval of Forest dept. NOC is awaited. (iv) The other packages are majorly held up for want of Tree[1]transplantation permission and encroachments,” he said in a written response.The project at Netaji Nagar has both residential and commercial components. The commercial component is 18% complete as on February 2, 2023, the minister said. “(At) Kasturba Nagar, the project comprises of GPRA and planned in two phases. The progress achieved for one package is 8% as on date. The other package has not been taken-up for want of tree transplantation permission. (At) Sriniwaspuri, the project comprises of GPRA and planned in two phases. The work of one package has been awarded and is held up for want of tree transplantation permission,” the minister said.

According to NBCC India, “The commercial centre at Nauroji Nagar and close to 800 flats at Sarojini Nagar will be completed by September and August this year respectively.”