DELHI NCR

Metropolitan Region Governance

By-Thangula Harish, Rohit Dabas,
Masters of urban and rural planning,
department of architecture & planning,
IIT Roorkee.

Regional planning
Background:
It has been more than two decades that the National Capital
Regional Plan was formulated for decentralizing economic
activities from National Capital Territory of Delhi to Delhi
Metropolitan Area (now called CNCR) and other towns of NCR.
Gaining from the experience of planning National Capital Region
(NCR), this evaluation study of DMA Towns attempts to assess
their administrative governance, economic and transportation
structure. The NCR is already witnessing boom in real estate
development and with efforts of the State Governments
concerned to develop Special Economic Zones, Hi-Tech Cities,
Industrial Estates etc., are bound to have spread effect on the
vast hinterland.

I. INTRODUCTION
Ever since the NCR Plan - 2001, was formulated, the
development of Delhi Metropolitan Area Towns (DMA) has
been receiving attention as important urban centers in the
National Capital Region. Almost 20 years have passed since
the formulation of NCR Plan - 2001and now, the NCR Plan 2021has also been notified. Hence, it is pertinent to explore
the developments in DMA towns - whether they have been
helpful in fulfilling the objectives of NCR Plan, what has been
their overall role in contributing towards the economic
development of NCR and also how far they have offset the
role of NCT Delhi in terms of urban primacy. NCT Delhi has
been experiencing rapid population growth and there has been
no respite from unprecedented migration from small and
medium towns and rural areas of the vast hinterland. On an
average about 3 lakh persons are added every year to total
population of NCT Delhi. It attracts number of migrants
largely due to better employment opportunities, better
infrastructure / services and above all better governance. In
the past four decades, the population growth of NCT Delhi
has been exceeding 50% per decade and has today resulted in
a large population base of 13.85 million. Recent projections
have indicated that population of NCT Delhi is slated to reach
18 million in 2001 and is likely to cross 23 million by 2021.
At this pace of population growth, the entire NCT Delhi may
have to be declared as urban with very limited scope for
horizontal expansion as the situation has reached saturation
level. Hence, there is every possibility of catastrophic effect
on the basic infrastructure / facilities, traffic and transportation
and natural environment. To manage 23 million population in

NCT Delhi by 2021 will be a challenging task for all

concerned.

DMA TOWNS IN
NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION (NCR)

Physical Setting
-Ganga at its eastern boundary
-Yamuna at north-south forming boundary between
U.P and Haryana
-Sand dunes and barrel hills of aravali in west
-Gentle slope to north-east to south-west
.
NCR area is
1.06% of the Indias area;
86% of the Kerala
75.9% of Haryana
66.67% of Punjab

NCR area is almost 23 times that of NCT-Delhi

(1,483 sq. kms)

NCR area is more than the combined area of 3

States of Tripura, Nagaland and Sikkim (27,885 sq
kms)

innovation in information 2 and communication technology

(ICT), the forces of decentralization may gather momentum
and thereby benefit relatively smaller urban settlements

National Capital Region-Delhi

Formation of National Capital Region:
Germane of Master Plan Delhi
Delhi experienced phenomenal decennial population
growth since 1951 recording 52.44%, 52.91%, 52.98%, 51.45%
and 47.03% during 1951-61, 1961-71, 1971-81 and 19912001, respectively.
However, post independence, it was observed that if Delhi
continues to grow unabated, problems of land, housing,
transportation and management of essential infrastructure
would become more acute. It was this concern, the need for
planning Delhi in regional context was felt.
A. 1956: Interim General Plan suggested that serious
consideration
should be given to a planned
decentralization to areas even outside Delhi region.
NCT Delhi cannot be viewed as the sole center of
development in entire NCR. The Delhi Metropolitan Area
Towns have to share the burden of NCT Delhi especially in
terms of population redistribution, easing strain on
infrastructure / services and effective transportation and
communication linkages. Of late, with the emergence of new
economic order in terms of globalization, liberalization and
privatization, the emerging new development scenario is
likely to influence the urbanization pattern, which may alter
investment decisions. This means that with the increasing

B. 1961: A High Powered Board was set up under Union

Minister for Home Affairs.
C. 1962: Delhi Master Plan was published that emphasized
Planning of Delhi in regional context.
D. 1973: High Powered Board reconstituted under Union
Minister for Works and Housing
E. 1985: Enactment of the National Capital Region Planning
Board Act by the Union Parliament, with the concurrence

of the participating States of Haryana, Rajasthan and

Uttar Pradesh, NCR Planning Board was constituted.
With continuing population growth trends, the projected
population of National Capital Territory, Delhi by 2011 and
2021 would be 18.20 million and 22.50 million persons,
respectively.
To maintain the sustainable growth of Delhi, NCR is the
base for future investment opportunities.
Sub-region wise Growth / Distribution of Population (in
Lakhs):
400
350
300

Delhi

250

Har

200

Raj

150

UP

100

NCR

50
0
1981

1991

2001

Population Projection as per Regional Plan-2021 for

NCR

Urban-Rural Components of Population in NCR (19812001)

Urban-Rural Comp
/Year
Urban NCR
Rural NCR
Urban NCR*

Percent share (%)

1981
1991
2001
45.87
50.23
56.39
54.13
49.77
43.61
24.53
29.39
34.47

The four mega cities- mumbai , kolkata, delhi and chennai

together account for more than 17% population and 4.5%
reside in NCT-Delhi

II.

METROPOLITAN REGION GOVERNANCE:

Board Members of NCR Planning Board

The 19 members of the re-constituted Board, 2 Additional
Co-opted members and 1 Co-opted member are as follows :

Planning Process:

To be prepared by NCRPB
To be prepared by the State Government
To be prepared by the State Government or ulbs

Metropolitan Region Governance:

Regional Plan-2021: Settlement

Pattern

7 Metro Centres/Complexes

Faridabad
Ghaziabad-Loni Complex
Meerut
Sonepat - Kundli Complex
Greater Noida

8 Counter-magnet area

Bareilly (UP)
Gwalior (MP)
Hissar (Haryana)
Kota (Rajasthan)
Patiala (Punjab)
Ambala (Haryana)
Dehradun (Uttrakhand)
Kanpur (U.P.)

11 Regional Centres

Bahadurgarh
Panipat
Rohtak
Palwal
Rewari-Dharuhera-Bawal
Hapur
Bulandshahr-Khurja
Baghpat-Baraut Complex
Alwar
Greater Bhiwadi
Shahjahanpur-Neemrana-Behror

III. TRANSPORTATION:

Objectives
NCR planning board prepared functional plan on
-To provide efficient and economical transportation system
transport- integrated multimodal transport plan (imtp)
-Provide accessibility to all parts and discourage transit
Functional plan was proposed after revising demand
through the core area of NCT-Delhi.
and supply of transport infrastructure in NCR
Existing Transport System
The aim is to improve mobility of both people and
Road networks- 36,305km, Bus fleet- 58,300 buses, Rail
goods and fast & efficient movement of transport.
network more than 1000km, Airport- domestic
Plan Components:
&international airports
Regional rapid transit system
New rail lines
Regional mass rapid transit system
Up-gradation of roads
Expressways
Bus-transport system
Bus terminals
Logistic hubs
Integrated freight complexes
Highway facility
Airports

Road network (radial in nature)

Road density

Transport scenario

Volume to Capacity Ratio

Measure of extent of utilization of road capacity .
Ideally it should be less than 1
Rural-0.5
Urban-0.7
As per norms
Currently it exceeds the limit
Rural-0.6
Urban- 1.01 to 2.83
Traffic and travel pattern
On an average 2,21,575 vehicles travel in and out of ncr per
day.Different passenger traffic modes for outer, middle and
inner cordons
Rail system
Three zonal railways - Northern, North western, North
central.625 trains -253 passenger long distance , 176 EMU
trains(sub-urban)
Metro rail in ncr
190km completed
136km sanctioned and under execution and
completion estimated in december 2016

Average daily ridership around 20lakh

Bus transport
Existing number of buses in NCR- 58,346
New sanctioned buses delhi-1600,
faridabad- 150, meerut-150.
Average 132 buses against 1 lakh
population
Air transport
3 operational runways handling capacity of
75 aircrafts.
3 separate terminals for international ,
domestic passengers & cargo
51 international airlines , 60 international
destinations.
Further Travel Demand
Estimated population by 2021- 64.14
million
Inter-regional travel to increase from 3.63
million to 13.2 million by 2032
To reduce the dependency on private modes
of transport from 56% to 26%
Transport plan of NCR
Extensive regional expressway network
extending over a length of 1107km is
proposed.
Existing NHC converging are proposed to
be developed as part of regional arterials .
Development of other networks
Improve inter-state intra-state connectivity
Develop lower hierarchy of roads to connect
villages etc
Proposed high occupancy vehicle lanes to
be provided along existing expressways,
national highway and other major road.
Bicycles and pedestrian facilities
Build up new roads and traffic safety
strategies

Propose metro rail in regional areas

Regional BRTS with intelligent transport
system , electronic ticketing and ticket
verification.

IV. ECONOMIC

SCENARIO

Background
The size and nature of economic activities had a great
influence on Delhi metro extensions to the CNCR and
construction.
Gross Domestic Product
During 2004-10 GDP increased by 52 % whereas GDP of
NCR increased by 67%.
NCR contributed 7.1% of India's GDP whereas the
population Is 3.8% and land is less than 1%.

Per Capita income

during 2004-10 PCI of NCR went up from rs38,758 to
rs59,624
Among the various sub-region of NCR , Delhi has
the highest share of GDP in NCR.
During 2005-10 , Haryana recorded the highest rate of GDP
and Per Capita Income followed by NCT while UP had the
lowest.
NCT-Delhi
Consistent increase in GDP and Per Capita income during
2005-10.
Haryana sub-region
Rate of growth of Gross Sub-region Product(GSDP)
increased from 12.9% to 16.4%
Gurgaon recorded the highest GDP followed by Faridabad
District in year 2009-10 , while Mewat had the lowest GDP

Structural Composition of Work Force

In NCR the primary Sector showed a decline from
35%(1991) to 29%(2001)
While the workforce increased for secondary and tertiary
sectors.
Secondary sector it is 23%(1991) to 27%(2001)
Tertiary sector increased from 42%(1991) to 44%(2001)
Financial Inclusion
In India , 58.7% households avail banking services .
71.5% households of NCR avail banking services
In NCT , it is 77.7%
For Faridabad it is 71.1%
And in Gurgaon it is 78.2%

 Policy and Proposals

The key behind reformation of NCR was to promote
balanced growth and development of the region.
-Comparison of PCI of different districts of NCR
reveals that Mewat has the lowest PCI while Gurgaon and
Faridabad higher than Delhi.
-Development in the secondary and tertiary sector in
NCR to bring employment.
-Connectivity within NCR for the change in the both
size and nature of economic activities.
-The analysis of banking facilities in NCR shows that
districts with low PCI are the districts were banking facilities
are not available. The banking sector should focus on
expanding networks.
-The three investment regions under the proposed
DMIC projects namely manesar-bawl, khushkheda-bhiwanineemrana, dadri-noida-ghaziabad investment regions. These
projects emphasis on expanding the manufacturing and
services base and develop as global manufacturing and trading
hubs.

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