NCR expansion to spur infra investments in Haryana

The approval by the NCR (National Capital Region) Planning Board to include Mahendragarh and Bhiwani districts of Haryana in NCR is likely to help entrepreneurs with low-cost investments. The escalating land costs dissuaded quite a few from investing in NCR as land was scarce and cost unviable.

The proposal for inclusion of Jind and Karnal in NCR has also been agreed to. This was announced by the Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath at the 33rd meeting of Board in New Delhi on Monday.

Talking to Business Standard, Tarun Bajaj, managing director, HSIIDC (Haryana State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation) said this would mobilise substantial investment in the two districts in the form of infrastructure porjects.

"The loans will be provided by the Board and the state". He added some area had been picked by the HSIIDC for industrial model townships.

According Dilip Sharma, the Regional Director of PHDCCI Chandigarh, the expaost of lann high csion of NCR would ease the pressure on the existing infrastructure.

Sharma pointed out that the cost of land in the existing NCR had gone through the roof. So it was diificult for the existing units to expand and new units to come up in Delh and Gurgaon. The availability of land was also scarce Gurgaon-Delhi area. So the development of new area under NCR in Haryana would help the entrepreneurs to cut cost on investment in land. The exorbitant land cost made many projects unviable in the recent past.

He added that the planners will have to create social infrastructure to make the towns self-sufficient and achieve a sustainable growth.

A press release from Haryana stated that for economic development of NCR, there was a need for a Regional Rapid Transit System. Implementation of the projects will not only help in reduction of travel time within NCR, but would also reduce the number of vehicles on roads and the level of pollution too would decline. It would ultimately help in improving the quality of life in the NCR. The NCR Transport Corporation to be formed, will implement RRTS projects of Delhi-Panipat (111 km), Delhi-Alwar (180 km), Delhi-Meerut (90 km). It stated that the work on these three corridors will start soon and would be completed by 2016. To begin with, the NCR Planning Board will contribute Rs. 200 crore.

A spokersperson of Haryana government said that the Sub Region has fulfilled the objectives of the creation of NCR by effectively checking migration to Delhi as also by attracting reverse migration. City of Gurgaon has grown at a rate of 293 per cent in the last decade, registering the highest growth rate in the region. As such there is a need to improve the basic infrastructure and inclusion of Gurgaon in JNNURM. Ac Haryana is about to finacording to sources Haryana is likely to finalize its Sub-Regional Plan, which will be sent to NCR Planning Board in a months time. Development plans for 2031 are also being revised and this should also be incorporated in the Regional Plan.