UP’s new township policy to rope in private players

UP’s new township policy to rope in private players
The Financial Express, August 25, 2009, Page 19

Deepa Jainani, Lucknow

The Uttar Pradesh government has announced the New Township Policy to promote and facilitate private investment in developing new townships with modern amenities all over the state. In accordance with the provisions of the Policy, Awas Bandhu, the Housing and Urban Planning Department of the Uttar Pradesh, has invited offers for pre-qualification from reputed developer companies for the development of new townships in Uttar Pradesh.

The developers would be free to propose new townships anywhere in the state, based on their assessment of the potential of a particular place and the only criteria that has been fixed is that the new townships will only be at least 3 kilometers outside the existing development areas, industrial development areas and other notified/municipal areas.

The New Township Policy comes in the backdrop of the widespread deficiency in housing and infrastructure facilities in the state, especially in the large cities. The total housing demand during the 11th Five Year Plan has been estimated at 15.84 lakh dwelling units, ie 3.16 lakh dwelling units per year in the urban areas of the state against which the annual capacity of government agencies, has been limited to about 1.0 lakh units.

Realising the resource constraints as well as the limited capacity of the government agencies to meet the ever-increasing demand for strengthening and augmenting the infrastructure services in the existing urban areas, the state government has come up with this innovative urban planning solution, whereby development of new townships can ensure availability of housing and infrastructure services to the urban households.

These new townships are also expected to be equipped with modern amenities, an efficient traffic and transportation system and will be economically and environmentally sustainable, which will be developed as satellite towns around the existing urban areas in the course of time.

Speaking to FE, a senior official of the housing and urban planning department said the New Township Policy has been kept open-ended so that the developers are free to propose setting up these townships in any city or town of the state as per its potential and the need of its people.