The Delhi Government is planning to redevelop its housing colony on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, similar to the Centre’s General Pool Residential Accommodation (GPRA) project. Under the GPRA project, existing government residential colonies in Delhi are redeveloped under the PPP model to provide modern housing along with optimum land use.

According to the senior officials concerned, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta discussed the matter in her recent meeting with the Public Works Department (PWD).

“The Delhi Government plans to redevelop housing colonies under the PPP model and recover the cost of the project by using the land space for commercial purposes… like building offices and retail spaces or by selling land parcels to private developers or constructing housing units and selling them…,” told the official to the national media.

The PWD department has been reportedly asked to report the possibilities of such PPP model-based housing plans and appoint a consultant who will study the number of government colonies that can be redeveloped and the space available to build multi-buildings along with spaces for commercial activities as well. The consultant is to submit a detailed project report on the same.

Officials also note that while the plan is at its nascent stage, the tendering process will start soon so that a consultant can be appointed. At present, houses are allotted to Delhi Government officials at 57 localities, including Daryaganj, Rajpur Road, Alipur Road, Satya Sadan, Shamnath Marg, Mayur Vihar, Commonwealth Games Village, and Vasant Kunj, along with other such locations. This allotment is done through the Sarkaari Awas portal.

Most houses allotted to Delhi Government employees, from senior bureaucrats to ministers, come under the PWD pool and are managed by the department itself, but the key aim now is to redevelop old and dilapidated government houses and replace them with modern and sustainable infrastructure. The ultimate goal is to create self-sustaining urban spaces.

“Currently most of these colonies are two- or three-floor towers of buildings. After conducting a feasibility study, a plan will be made for land utilisation so that multi-storey towers having modern features like rainwater harvesting systems, among others, can be constructed. This will also help the government to meet its housing requirements and help save the cost of repair and maintenance… Further, the wait period for government staff to get a house will come down,” also added the senior official while talking to the national media.

PPP Model Used in Past

In 2016, the Centre approved the redevelopment of 7 GPRA colonies in South Delhi at locations, namely Sarojini Nagar, Naoroji Nagar, Kasturba Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Srinivas Puri, Mohammadpur, and Thyagaraja Nagar. These ticket projects were to be completed solely through public funds by the government, and that is why the PPP model had to be brought in, where contracts were given to private companies to construct the houses and use the space available for official or commercial activities to generate revenue.

While some land parcels were also sold for commercial purposes so that money could be used to construct the houses. While those at Thyagaraja Nagar and Mohammadpur have been completed with no space being allotted to commercial purposes, at other spaces, the government is using a land parcel like Naoroji Nagar exclusively for commercial purposes. Naoroji Nagar is the place where the Delhi New World Trade Centre will emerge.