NEW DELHI: The Delhi Development Authority is close to clearing a plan that could open up new areas in the city for housing projects. DDA’s board of directors last week decided to take up final public suggestions on the move before it clears the proposal, probably in its next meeting.

The move, which will finally have to be cleared by the Centre and involves amending the master plan 2021, is expected to boost residential real estate development in outer Delhi regions such as Kanjhawala, Najafgarh, Burari, Ghitroni and Bawana.

The plan is to allow residential units along ‘facility corridors’ earmarked in the MPD 2021 for urban extension. These corridors, part of the larger Transit Oriented Development (TOD) of the capital, were originally meant to be commercial and recreational centres, and strictly non-residential.

The move is said to have the backing of Union urban development minister Kamal Nath. Officials from the planning department said DDA is now close to finalizing the process of amending the MPD to include residential development in these corridors. The proposal had been approved by the committees reviewing the master plan and was put up for suggestions and objections from the public.

According to senior planning officials at DDA, the proposal was likely to have been passed unopposed but then the authority decided to again review the objections and suggestions it had received. “It was decided that suggestions and objections to the proposal will be taken up before deliberation on the proposal is made in the authority’s next meeting,” said a planning department official.

“The proposal will now be deliberated and in all likelihood passed in the board’s next meeting,” the official said.

Senior officials say 247 objections and suggestions have come to DDA so far. Among the suggestions being considered is a proposal to increase the FAR of the community centre and district centre to bring it at par with the commercial centre in developed areas with 250 FAR.

The amendment required for the plan to be implemented is in MPD 2021?s chapter 5 — Trade and Commerce — where the term ‘non-residential’ in para 5.7.1 will be changed to ‘residential’ in the definition of land usage in the facility corridor. Other land usages defined the corridors are commercial, recreational, public, semi-public, utilities, service and repair.

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