TDR policy helping builders to develop road infra, says DTCP

Gurugram: Builders have acquired around 70 acres of land in the last one year to construct roads and other missing infrastructure in developing sectors across Gurugram, said officials of the department of town and country planning (DTCP) on Friday.

According to DTCP officials, the TDR (transfer of development rights) policy has helped in the purchase of the additional land by developers, who are buying it from farmers and then monetising it by creating TDR, which can be utilised in any sector under a single master plan.

DTCP officials said that several 24-metre roads which could not be constructed earlier due to non-availability of land, will come up now as developers have purchased land from farmers and it will be used for constructing infrastructure, while the development rights could be utilised in their projects elsewhere or could be traded.

A TDR certificate refers to the government awarding floor area ratio to the landowner for surrendering part of his land for building a critical infrastructure. The government last year had created a portal on which TDR can be traded and monetised, said officials.

Rajesh Kaushik, district town planner, Gurugram, said developers are taking advantage of the TDR policy and purchasing land from farmers that will be used to build roads, and other infrastructure in developing sectors.

“In the last one year, there have been around 52 transactions in which around 70 acres of land has been purchased and monetised under the TDR policy. This will ultimately help in building the missing 24-metre and other sector roads in the developing areas along the Dwarka Expressway and Southern Peripheral Road (SPR),” he said.

As per details shared by the department, 52 TDR certificates were issued between April 2022 and June 2023 for the 70 acres of land. Most of this land has been purchased for the purpose of creating road pockets and greenbelts, the department said.

Around 30 developers have purchased land and monetised it under the TDR policy in areas along the Golf Course Extension Road, SPR, Manesar, and Dwarka Expressway, said DTCP officials.

The department said that they also want farmers to come forward and obtain TDR themselves as these could be traded for a higher value and sold in the market as they are transferable and divisional.

“At present, landowners are selling land to builders, who are converting it into TDR under the government policy. While the land is being sold at ₹8 crore to ₹11 crore, the TDR can be monetised at ₹15 crore to ₹16 crore and we also want farmers to take advantage of it,” Kaushik said.

The department said that their prime objective was to ensure the construction of pending 24-metre and sector roads in the developing sectors, so that colonies can get better access and residents can commute with ease.

The responsibility of building 24-metre internal sector roads lies with developers, who have to buy land and construct the roads inside and outside the housing complexes. In several areas, these roads are missing due to non-availability of land or land getting expensive.

Kaushik said that in order to push the developers to buy land and to motivate farmers to obtain TDR, the department had earlier constituted three teams to conduct surveys in the developing sectors and identify land pockets that could be acquired to clear the bottlenecks.

The teams conducted the surveys and ownership details of the required land was obtained, so that it could be either acquired under the Land Consolidation Act or builders could buy it from owners and monetise it by using the TDR policy.

“We also obtained ownership details from the revenue department. The purchase of land for roads and greenbelts will continue further and it will remove the bottlenecks in the road construction work,” said Kaushik, adding that the TDR policy could help in building missing infrastructure in the city to a great extent.