UP Government Delays Approval of Ghaziabad’s Unified Master Plan 2031.

Development along Ghaziabad’s major transport corridors remains stalled as the Uttar Pradesh government has yet to approve the Unified Master Plan 2031. Submitted to the state committee in November 2023, the plan aims to regulate growth around rapid rail, metro, and expressway corridors but has faced multiple rejections and delays.

The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) board had previously rejected the draft at least four times. In March 2023, approval was deferred to incorporate the state's transit-oriented development (TOD) zone into the plan. In August, the Meerut divisional commissioner put it on hold, citing the exclusion of the Duhai Namo Bharat station-cum-depot from the TOD zone. The board again returned the plan in September 2022 due to the lack of public feedback and objections.

A revised draft, which included TOD zones and public feedback, was finally approved by the GDA board in November 2023. However, in March 2024, the UP government sent it back, raising concerns over certain clauses, including green zones and ‘record of right’—a provision mandating 100-meter-wide green belts along expressways and 60-meter-wide zones on both sides of state highways.

The draft proposes TOD zones spanning 4,261.43 hectares along a 1.5 km stretch of the rapid rail corridor and 616.61 hectares along a 500-meter stretch of the Red and Blue Line metro corridors. Additionally, a 909.82-hectare Special Development Area (SDA) is planned around the Duhai rapid rail depot to promote mixed-use land development with higher floor area ratios for residential and commercial expansion.

“For now, we are waiting for the state government's approval. Once sanctioned, a gazette notification will be issued before implementation. Pending approval, NCRTC cannot proceed with the zonal development plan,” a GDA official stated.

ET