DDA plans to develop Rohini’s vacant plots

Almost four decades after developing Rohini as one of the three sub-cities in the national capital, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has now decided to develop commercial spaces lying unused for years, and have initiated steps to appoint a consultant to carry out a study and prepare a detailed plan for the vacant land parcels.

“There are several vacant land parcels in the area. The consultant will study the entire area, assess demand and suggest ways to optimally utilise land parcels earmarked for commercial use,” said a senior DDA official.

The official added that the selected firm will have to do a detailed feasibility study, taking into account DDA’s latest policies, like transit oriented development, and provisions under the Master Plan of Delhi-2021.

“Study the best practices from similar projects in Delhi-NCR, any other city in India or globally… Highlight the key learnings with respect to product typology, success factors, product mix details, nature and type of development and innovative solutions,” said the tender document issued by the DDA on April 12.

Spread over 7,400 hectares, Rohini was developed in the 1980s as one of the three planned sub-cities along with Dwarka and Narela. DDA officials said that it was developed in five phases with 41 sectors.

DDA officials said that while a lot of residential development has happened in the area, commercial spaces developed by DDA are still lying unused.

Yashpal, executive member of the DDA Market Joint Action Committee, said, “We have been raising the issue regarding DDA-developed commercial spaces lying vacant for a long time. But the land-owning agency has done little to address this problem. DDA should focus on improving the facilities at the district and local shopping centres and increase the floor area ratio.”

Former planning commissioner of DDA AK Jain said commercialisation in residential areas and the high market price of DDA-developed commercial areas are some of the reasons why commercial spaces are lying vacant.

“The sale of commercial property developed by DDA is not good due to high cost, which is sometimes much more than the prevailing market prices. DDA needs to be realistic when it comes to prices… Another reason is that a lot of commercial development has been allowed in residential areas where one can get more space at much cheaper rates as compared to planned commercial spaces,” he said.

Jain said the DDA needs to look at innovative ways to make use of available commercial spaces. “They can develop integrated commercial centres, supermarkets, IT parks etc,” said Jain.