Govt plans new housing complex for employees in south Delhi’s Ghitorni

The central public works department (CPWD), the Union government’s construction arm, will construct the residential portion, while the commercial component will be developed and sold by the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC India).

The Centre is planning to develop a new residential and commercial complex with over 7,000 dwelling units in south Delhi’s Ghitorni for government employees, said a senior official of the ministry of housing and urban affairs (HUA).

Spread over 240 acres, the complex will have Type II to Type V flats under the general pool residential accommodation (GPRA).(Mint Archive. Representative image)

The central public works department (CPWD), the Union government’s construction arm, will construct the residential portion, while the commercial component will be developed and sold by the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC India).

Although the project has been in the pipeline for a long time, its details are now being finalised, said a senior CPWD official in the know of the developments. The CPWD is also working on a detailed traffic and road infrastructure improvement plan to streamline vehicular movement in and around the proposed complex.

“The planning work is in the advanced stages. The project cost will be recovered from the sale of commercial space. Once the details are finalised, the proposal will be sent to the Union cabinet for approval,” said a senior HUA ministry official aware of the development, who asked not to be named.

Spread over 240 acres, the complex will have Type II to Type V flats under the general pool residential accommodation (GPRA).

A senior CPWD official said on condition of anonymity, “The land parcel was allotted to the CPWD in the 80s for a brick kiln, and it has been lying vacant for all these years. The project has been in the pipeline for some time. But now, we are almost ready with the plan.”

This is the third GPRA project in Delhi where the cost of the project will be recovered from the sale of commercial space that will be developed as part of the project. East Kidwai Nagar, work on which started in 2014, was the first government residential colony where commercial units were developed for monetisation.

In all, the government is currently redeveloping seven more government residential colonies in south Delhi — Sarojini Nagar, Srinivaspuri, Kasturba Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Mohammadpur, Thyagraj Nagar and Nauroji Nagar— and the cost of the project in Nauroji Nagar will be recovered from the sale of the state-of-the-art commercial hub planned at the complex.

A senior NBCC India official said on condition of anonymity, “We will develop the commercial complex which will have space for offices, retail and recreation. The cost of the project will be recovered from the sale of commercial and office spaces.”

Imbibing lessons from past experiences, the CPWD is working on a traffic circulation plan for the Ghitorni project to ensure that the new development doesn’t cause any congestion in the area.

The East Kidwai Nagar redevelopment project had come under fire for no traffic assessment study being carried out before the construction work was undertaken. Later, in a report submitted to the Delhi high court on the matter, the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, had said the increased traffic load caused by the project could result in congestion on Ring Road and Aurobindo Road.

In the case of the Ghitorni project, the proposed development will be connected to the Delhi Metro, officials said, as the project is located near the Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, which is well connected to Delhi Metro’s Yellow Line (Samaypur Badli to Huda City Centre in Gurugram).

The senior CPWD official quoted above said, “A detailed traffic plan with flyovers and underpasses is being worked out so that there is no congestion in the area once the project is complete.”

To handle the increased vehicular traffic around the eight government group housing colonies, including the one at East Kidwai Nagar, the CPWD had to come up with a plan to construct a 14km long elevated corridor. The ₹5,000 crore corridor was approved by the apex traffic and transportation body in Delhi, UTTIPEC (Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning & Engineering) Centre), earlier this year. The CPWD has started work on preparing a detailed drawing of the proposed corridor, HT reported on September 8.