'East Delhi Hub' project to be finalized soon

NEW DELHI: DDA's first project based on Transit Oriented Development (TOD) model will be finalized next week. Senior officials said DDA is expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) on February 25 to build the 'East Delhi Hub'. The project is expected to cost around Rs 2,500 crore and will provide housing to over 4,500 families.A 100-storey Signature Tower too is part of the project. The tower would be tallest in east Delhi.The project will come up around existingKarkardooma Metro station and will be spread over 75 acres. The idea of TOD, a model which DDA will gradually expand across all Metro corridorseventually, is to have a pedestrian-friendly space. With already an ease of FAR norms, developers will now be encouraged to build tall towers catering to the needs of residents living close by.DDA had proposed the project in November last year. Authority officials said talks with NBCC started soon after. "We had sent a letter of intent to NBCC last year and received a positive response. We agreed to all the major points of the project. Now we are looking to focus on financial nuances," said a senior authority official. The official said several financial models were being discussed in the meeting between the two organizations. According to one of the financial models, DDA would pay 10% of the cost of project along with providing the land to help NBCC raise finances for the project. Other is for NBCC to advertise the project and start selling service apartments and commercial space in the area to raise funds.'East Delhi Hub', will basically be a TOD zone,which will extend 500m on either side of an identified Delhi Metro corridor, will allow landowners in the area to avail 400 FAR on redeveloping their land. With a minimum plot size of 1 hectare, a land owner can come forward andsubmit his redevelopment plan that has to conform to certain criterion - 20% of the space has to be reserved for roads, 20% for developing green spaces, and the total built area is to be 40%.Setbacks and boundary walls around buildings will not be allowed in the zone. By not allowing boundary walls, planners hope to improve ground visibility and avoid segregated alleys and corners that are considered unsafe for women. Water will be recycled and because of the high population density, areas around will be used for purposes ofrecreation or setting up of more colleges and hospitals."We are in the process of setting the trend of future development in the city. We are basically trying to incentivise intensive development in the city and promote vertical growth, taking town planning from traditional to modern models," DDA vice-chairperson, Balvinder Kumar, said.