“The demand for government housing is on the rise and we don’t have enough accommodation available to meet the requirement. We plan to redevelop all government colonies in the city,” said senior officials. The ministry, through the Central Public Works department, provides and maintains as many as 64,208 government flats in its ‘general pool residential accommodation’ at present. This is apart from the accommodation provided to VVIPs, VIPs and other ministries.

Going by the new plan, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has relaxed land and building norms in areas where all these colonies are located. “We were told that there is a dire need for redevelopment in these areas — due to the shortage of government accommodation and because these colonies are very old, with dilapidated two-storey buildings,” said senior planning department officials in the DDA.

The DDA has allowed these buildings to grow vertically. “They can actually go as high as they want,” said a DDA official. The authority has also relaxed land use norms so that these areas can be used for commercial purposes also.

A ministry official said the reason why the provision for land use change has been kept is because the ministry is considering reserving a part of every colony for commercial use or which can be auctioned to private players.

A pilot model has already been introduced at Netaji Nagar, which is being implemented by the National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC). In this pilot model, NBCC reserved 5 acres for non-residential use and auctioned it to the Leela group for a five-star hotel.

“In effect, if we auction off a certain section or use it for commercial purposes it will help self finance the housing redevelopment project,” senior officials pointed out.

The second model that the ministry is considering is to redevelop the colonies through a private or quasi-government organisation, again on the lines of the Netaji Nagar pilot project. This means the CPWD, which is in charge of constructing all such buildings and colonies on behalf of the government, will not be considered for this project.