DU clears ₹5,889 crore hostel plan for 21,895 students amid project delays

Delhi University reportedly has 7,224 official hostel beds for its 251,474 students enrolled in conventional programmes

Delhi University (DU) on Tuesday approved hostel projects worth ₹5,889 crore to provide accommodation for 21,895 students, even as several previously announced projects remain delayed. The university's 1284th Executive Council (EC) meeting, chaired by Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh, approved the proposal, according to media reports.

 

The plans will now be forwarded to the Union Ministry of Education for approval of grant-in-aid, DU Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh said.

 

The proposed expansion includes new hostels costing ₹4,027 crore, with capacity for 15,758 students. Another ₹1,862 crore has been earmarked for reconstructing two existing facilities, which would accommodate 6,137 students.

 

The new hostels are planned at the university’s Dhaka Complex, Veer Savarkar College in Najafgarh, West Campus in Dwarka, and East Campus in Surajmal Vihar. The reconstruction plan covers Jubilee Hall and the Postgraduate Men’s Hostel, whose proposed capacities after redevelopment are 3,795 and 2,337 students, respectively.

 

 

However, the new approvals come amid delays in earlier projects. Hindustan Times reported that seven projects are at various stages of delay, with funding constraints and construction challenges holding up progress.

 

At the Dhaka Complex, a girls’ hostel and studio apartment complex estimated to cost ₹233.35 crore, and a hostel-cum-residential block costing ₹318 crore, are expected to be completed by December 2028, according to a university official cited by the publication.

 

The Nirbhaya Residential Accommodation Project has seen its estimated cost rise from ₹272 crore to ₹400 crore, with funding yet to be released by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development. Other projects, including an executive hostel and an extension of Geetanjali Girls’ Hostel, are scheduled for completion by June 2028.

 

Proposed extensions to the Saramati and Aravali boys’ hostels, along with a new hostel building at South Campus, have been put on hold because of construction challenges linked to their location in the Ridge area, the report said.

 

DU has 251,474 students enrolled in conventional programmes and 7,224 official hostel beds, comprising 3,688 beds in undergraduate college hostels and 3,536 in university-run postgraduate hostels. More than half of the students are estimated to come from outside Delhi, although not all would require university accommodation.

 

The proposed projects could substantially expand hostel capacity if funding is approved and construction proceeds as planned. However, the timelines for the new facilities remain uncertain.