Delhi: DDA clears ₹8,720cr budget for 2025-26

The land-owning authority has also set an ambitious target of ₹1,000 crore in license fee collections, significantly higher than previous years

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA), chaired by lieutenant governor VK Saxena, has approved its annual budget for 2025-26, pegging total expenditure at ₹8,720 crore and projecting a surplus of ₹840 crore. The land-owning agency expects receipts of ₹9,560 crore, up from a surplus of ₹372 crore in 2024-25.

Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena chairs the Delhi Development Authority. (ANI)

Nearly half the budget — ₹4,140 crore — has been earmarked for capital expenditure. This includes the development of roads, parks, infrastructure upgrades, and air quality improvement through road repair and reconstruction.

Driven by a push to monetise unsold housing stock, DDA said it had recorded ₹3,176 crore in housing receipts in 2024-25 — a 132% increase from ₹2,398 crore the previous year. For 2025-26, housing receipts are projected at ₹4,000 crore, a DDA spokesperson said.

The land-owning authority has also set an ambitious target of ₹1,000 crore in license fee collections, significantly higher than previous years.

“DDA will undertake a range of developmental projects focusing on housing, heritage conservation, and public spaces. Our aim is to make DDA financially sustainable through internal resources,” Saxena said.

A total of ₹9,560 crore has been allocated for land development and physical infrastructure, including roads, water supply, sewerage, drainage, power lines, and beautification—especially in underdeveloped areas of Narela, Dwarka, Rohini, and other sub-cities.

An outlay of ₹75 crore has been kept for Phase IV of the Delhi Metro. Two multi-level parking facilities—at Nehru Place and Bikaji Cama Place—are underway, while a third is planned at Netaji Subhash Place, with ₹38 crore earmarked for the project.

The Dilli Gramodaya Abhiyan (DGA), launched in December 2023 to develop infrastructure in recently urbanized villages, has been allotted ₹357 crore from ₹959 crore transferred to the DDA by the Delhi government’s revenue department.

Stormwater drainage projects — including the Kirari trunk drain, channels in Dwarka sectors 5 and 8, and a drain from Rani Khera to Sector 40 in Rohini — will receive ₹145 crore.

DDA has allocated ₹82 crore for restoring Yamuna floodplains, covering 11 projects such as Asita East, Baansera near Sarai Kale Khan, and Vasudev Ghat near Kashmiri Gate. An additional ₹100 crore has been assigned to the Bharat Vandana Park in Sector 20, Dwarka, and ₹46 crore for biodiversity parks.

Green space development, including modernization and enhancement of urban parks, has been allotted ₹204 crore. Rajghat Power Plant is being repurposed into an educational public space with ₹0.35 crore allocated, while ₹19 crore has been set aside for redeveloping Dilli Chalo Park, Ghata Masjid Park, Sadhbhavna Park, and Urdu Academy Park.

“The idea is to maximise the potential of parks through design and landscape improvements and to foster public spaces that allow Delhi residents to connect with nature, the Yamuna riverfront, and heritage landmarks,” a DDA spokesperson said.

In sports infrastructure, ₹250 crore has been set aside for three new sports complexes in Dwarka, one in Rohini, a golf course in Dwarka, and a proposed complex in Narela.

For ongoing housing projects and in-situ slum rehabilitation, ₹580 crore has been allocated. Another ₹263 crore is earmarked for a residential complex in Karkardooma, developed under Transit Oriented Development (TOD) norms. Of the planned units, 497 1BHK flats in a 22-storey tower are nearly complete, while work continues on 1,026 2BHK flats.

The DDA also approved the licensing of land for major commercial projects, including hotels at Dwarka and Nehru Place, a hospital in Dwarka, a multi-integrated stadium and sports complexes at Rohini and Narela, corporate offices in Rohini, and Gol Souk in Dwarka.

Other decisions include a 10% hike in land rates for conversion of commercial, industrial, and multilevel parking properties from leasehold to freehold for FY 2025-26. The agency also approved the conversion of 14,123 sqm from recreational to residential land use to construct staff quarters at Minto Road.