Clarifying on the recent statement made by Delhi Transport Minister Satyendar Jain that the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) policies framed by DDA would benefit the private builder lobby, DDA officials said that the policy has been misunderstood as the entire policy is in the favour of Government agencies and not for the private sector.
In an official statement, the DDA cleared that the point on which the reports was published is based on the misinterpretation of provisions contained in para 6 under table 12.8 of the proposed modifications in the TOD policy of Master plan which is in case of transportation and public and semi-public facility plots, the development control norms shall be as per the use premises prescribed in lease conditions. “Condition has been proposed specifically for facility plots and plots allotted for transportation and public, semi-public use. If lease conditions are not imposed then private allottees who have been allotted land by DDA or l&DO on concessional rates in the past shall change the use of the premises and get windfall gains and at the same time the facilities will get reduced,” said DDA official.
In a letter to Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu, Jain said that the amendment proposed by the DDA aims to keep public, semi-public and transportation plots owned by the Government agencies outside the purview of the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) policy. A salient feature of the policy is significantly higher Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 400 in the TOD zone to incentivise development by enabling vertical construction that is required to address shortage of land availability.
“The proposed FAR of 400 is applicable to all usage in the TOD zone while for transportation and public, semi-public use it will be guided by the lease conditions. FAR 400 will remain same for both government and private agencies,” said DDA official,” said the official. When the FAR increases to 400, it would lead to densification of the area and thus increase the pressure on the public utility and services which fall under the transportation and public/semi-public facility, they added.