Delhi’s real estate market is poised to witness an upcoming growth wave via the TOD (transit oriented development) initiative confirmed by the DDA (Delhi Development Authority) recently. This is a new concept that could give wings to further infrastructure development in Delhi along with boosting the overall housing sector as well as opined by industry experts. Key aspects of the transit oriented development plan Some of the major aspects of the TOD (transit oriented development) blueprint for the metro stations include the following:
- The 5 metro stations chosen for this initial pilot project of transit oriented development are the stations at Mayur Vihar Extension, Dwarka Sector 18, Sarojini Nagar, Dwarka Sector 21 and INA.
- DDA will be developing the surrounding areas of these metro stations in New Delhi.
- These will primarily be mixed-use and high density projects and the entire blueprint covers the execution of the revised TOD (transit oriented development) blueprint which has already been released to the general public for garnering crucial feedback and opinions.
- The selection of the initial 5 stations has been done of the basis of overall footfalls; officials have reportedly confirmed that all 5 stations selected usually have massive footfalls.
- The overall scope for development of real estate has also been taken into account in case of the areas surrounding these metro stations.
- Work is ongoing in a detailed manner for coming up with blueprints pertaining to the development of public amenities surrounding these metro stations in tandem with housing projects and commercial real estate ventures.
- This work will be implemented soon after the notification of the TOD policy and any objections/inputs have been sought from the general public prior to the notification release.
Learning more about the new TOD policy The new TOD (transit oriented development) policy has reportedly been in limbo for around the last 3-4 years. The TOD policy has been tweaked and now emphasizes on coming up with mixed-use development initiatives in key transit based nodes instead of focusing on corridors. The NIUA or National Institute of Urban Affairs has drafted the new policy and has junked the earlier provisions given for creating TOD corridors as per the notification issued by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry back in the year 2015. As per NIUA officials, with the new policy coming up, it will be emphasizing on developing areas around major nodes or transit hubs. Areas will be developed based on the TOD regulations which surround chosen metro stations. This is different from the earlier blueprint which was focusing more on entire TOD corridors. A threshold has also been zeroed in on by the authorities with regard to considering any transit node for transit oriented development. The tweaked policy now enables FAR (floor-area) ratios going up to 500 as compared to 400 that was notified in the earlier blueprint. This new decision has reportedly got a rousing welcome from several experts on urban planning and infrastructure management. The earlier TOD blueprint was focusing on creating a 500 metre corridor on both sides of metro networks. There were major difficulties in executing the previous policy since not all locations offered feasibility in terms of overall development and planning. The new policy has more feasibility for the authorities since it emphasizes on transit oriented development based on the node in question. This policy is the same as the one followed in several global cities. This makes it more viable for planning and development in a phase wise manner across multiple nodes. The new policy also tackles the core issue of official lapses. There will be a new authority established for approval of plans concerning TOD execution as per reports. Other vital information to keep in mind Upon notification of the new policy, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) will commence working on the 5 metro stations that have been chosen under its first pilot project. The Central Government has also planned for new RRTS (Regional Rapid Transit System) corridors and senior DDA authorities have reportedly stated that these are corridors along which transit oriented development can be taken up as well. Two TOD (transit oriented development) ventures that have already obtained approval from land owning agencies are situated at Sanjay Lake where the land is more than 10.2 hectares and Karkardooma where land covers more than 30 hectares. These projects will be tweaked now on the basis of the revamped TOD policy. Transit oriented development is a specialized urban development type which scales up the amount of business/leisure/commercial/residential space that is located within walking distance from any major public transportation facility. The aim is also to scale up overall usage of public transportation through lower use of private vehicles while encouraging sustainable development overall. With the implementation of the new TOD blueprint, the real estate market in the National Capital is set to get a boost. There will be several residential and commercial projects planned around major metro stations. 
Once the pilot project is executed successfully, there will be a fresh bout of real estate development at key transit nodes and this will naturally offer more options to homebuyers and companies while enabling developers to scale up sales volumes since most buyers will naturally desire housing units located near major public transportation facilities like metro stations.
