National Capital Region (India)

This article is about National Capital Region of India which includes Delhi and adjoining urban areas. You might be looking for Delhi, or New Delhi. For other uses see National Capital Region (disambiguation).

National Capital Region (India) राष्ट्रीय राजधानी क्षेत्र (भारत)
Region
National Capital Territory of Delhi as captured by Landsat-5 satellite
Government
• Regional authority	National Capital Region Planning Board
Area
• Total	51,109 km² (19,733 sq mi)
Population
• Total	53,332,000
• Density	1,000/km² (2,700/sq mi)
Website	ncrpb.nic.in

The National Capital Region (NCR) in India is the designation for the conurbation or metropolitan area which encompasses the entire National Capital Territory of Delhi, which includes New Delhi, as well as urban areas surrounding it in neighboring states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.^[1]

NCR is India's largest and the world's largest agglomeration with a population of over 54,000,000^[2] at the 2011 Census. All the areas of NCR together generated GDP of $128.9 billion in 2011-12, which was 7.5 percent of Indian GDP.^[3]

History

In 1985, with enactment of the National Capital Region Planning Board Act, 1985 of Government of India, NCR Planning Board (NCRPB) was constituted. The aim of the concept was to develop a metropolitan area around Delhi, so as to divert increasing pressure of population from the region. The concept was essential in order to protect Delhi's infrastructure from excessive pressure and a planned development of the region.

In July 2013, NCR was expanded to include three more districts, Bhiwani, and Mahendragarh in the state of Haryana, as well as Bharatpur in the state of Rajasthan. This brought the number of districts in NCR to 19, with the total NCR area increasing 34% to 45,887 km².^[4]

Before July 2013, National Capital Region (NCR) had a total area of 34,144 km² spanning over 15 districts in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan, together with the National Capital Territory of Delhi, with the Nation Capital as its core. After the addition of three more districts (Bhiwani, Mahendragarh and Bharatpur) - NCR expanded to 18 districts having a total area of 46,208 km². Then, in January 2014, NCR was expanded to include two more districts - Jind and Karnal in the state of Haryana. There are now a total of 20 districts (plus Delhi NCT) within NCR,^[5] covering a total area of 51,109 km².

The four constituent Sub-Regions of NCR are as follows:^[1]

1. The Haryana Sub-Region comprises thirteen districts: Faridabad, Gurgaon, Mewat, Rohtak, Sonepat, Rewari, Jhajjar, Panipat, Palwal, Mahendragarh (Narnaul), Bhiwani, Jind and Karnal.

2. The Uttar Pradesh Sub-Region comprises five districts: Meerut, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Gautam Budh Nagar, and Baghpat.

3. The Rajasthan Sub-Region comprises two districts: Alwar & Bharatpur.

4. Delhi, which constitutes about 2.9% of the land area of the Region.

Uttar Pradesh is pushing to have the districts of Aligarh, Mathura and Agra included in the NCR.

Component Districts

A total of 20 districts in three neighbouring states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan along with whole of the National Capital Territory of Delhi constitute the National Capital Region (NCR) of India as defined in National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) Act, 1985.^[6] The areas and populations^[7] of these component districts are set out below

District	State	Area (km²)	Population Census 2001	Population Census 2011	Capital
Delhi Sub-region	(NCT)	1,483	13,850,507	16,787,941
Faridabad	Haryana	741	1,365,465	1,809,733	Faridabad
Gurgaon	Haryana	1,258	870,539	1,514,432	Gurgaon
Mewat	Haryana	1,507	789,750	1,089,263	Nuh
Rohtak	Haryana	1,745	940,128	1,061,204	Rohtak
Sonipat	Haryana	2,122	1,279,175	1,450,001	Sonipat
Rewari	Haryana	1,594	765,351	900,332	Rewari
Jhajjar	Haryana	1,834	880,072	958,405	Jhajjar
Panipat	Haryana	1,268	967,449	1,205,437	Panipat
Palwal	Haryana	1,359	829,121	1,042,708	Palwal
Mahendragarh	Haryana	1,899	812,521	922,088	Narnaul
Bhiwani	Haryana	4,778	1,425,022	1,634,445	Bhiwani
Jind	Haryana	2,702	1,189,827	1,334,152	Jind
Karnal	Haryana	2,520	1,274,183	1,505,324	Karnal
Haryana Sub-region	Haryana	25,327	13,388,603	16,427,524
Meerut	Uttar Pradesh	2,559	2,997,361	3,443,689	Meerut
Ghaziabad	Uttar Pradesh	1,179	3,290,586	4,681,645	Ghaziabad
Gautam Budh Nagar	Uttar Pradesh	1,282	1,202,030	1,648,115	Greater Noida
Bulandshahr	Uttar Pradesh	4,441	222,826	323,629	Bulandshahr
Baghpat	Uttar Pradesh	1,321	1,163,991	1,303,048	Baghpat
Uttar Pradesh Sub-region	Uttar Pradesh	10,853	11,567,090	14,575,668
Bharatpur	Rajasthan	5,066	2,100,020	2,548,462	Bharatpur
Alwar	Rajasthan	8,380	3,674,179	2,992,592	Alwar

Aims and Objectives

NCRPB prepares regional plan, which aims to promote growth and balanced development of the whole region through providing economic base in the identified major settlements (Metro Centres/Regional Centres) for absorbing economic development impulse of Delhi, efficient transport network, development of physical infrastructure, rational land use pattern, improved environment and quality of life, and discipline.

About 46% of the National Capital Region (NCR)-home to 40-50 lakh (i.e., 4 to 5 million) people-is not connected to sewerage networks. Sewage from these areas flows into stormwater drains that empty directly into the Yamuna.^[8]

Till now, NCRPB has formulated Regional Plan-2001 and 2021.^[9]

Zones of NCR

NCT-Delhi

The basic policy for NCT-Delhi is to achieve environmentally sustainable development and redevelopment taking into account the limitation of developable land and water. No new major economic activities i.e., industries, wholesale trade and commerce, which may result in a large scale job creation both in formal as well as informal sectors, should be located in this zone. Only activities necessary to sustain the local population of NCT-Delhi should be permitted.

Central National Capital Region (CNCR) excluding NCT-Delhi

Considering that the controlled/development/regulated Central NCR towns have been extended/modified, the modified CNCR would comprise the notified controlled/development/regulated areas of contiguous towns of Gurgaon-Manesar, Alwar-Bhiwadi, Faridabad-Ballabgarh, Ghaziabad-Loni, Baghpat, Baraut India|Loni, Noida, Greater Noida, Bahadurgarh, Sonepat-Kundli Charkhi Dadri, Bhiwani, Narnaul and the extension of the Ridge in Haryana.

The opportunities presented by CNCR need to be maximized to enable it to effectively reinforce/support NCT-Delhi by offering jobs, economic activities, comprehensive transport system, housing, social infrastructure and quality of environment, which are at par with the National Capital. Major economic and non-polluting activities intended to be located in NCT-Delhi should be located in the urbanisable areas planned in this zone and, where appropriate and necessary, in the rest of NCR.

Highway Corridor Zone

A Highway Corridor Zone is proposed with a minimum width of 500 metres inclusive of green buffer on either side of the right-of-way (ROW) along the National Highway (NH) 1, 2, 8, 10, 24, 58 and 91 converging at Delhi to enable the planned and regulated development along the stretches of these highways that are outside the controlled/development/regulated areas. In addition to the above, the Highway Corridor Zones along the NH 71, 71A, 71B, 119, 93, 235, 11A and Expressways have been proposed.

Educational Institutions

University

Sharda University, Shiv Nadar University, Gautam Buddha University, Maharishi Dayanand University, [[Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal, Sonipat<ref>http://www.dcrustm.ac.in/</ref>]], [[O P Jindal Global university, Sonipat<ref>http://www.dcrustm.ac.in</ref>]], [[Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidyalaya, Sonipat<ref>http://www.bpswomenuniversity.ac.in/</ref>]], Amity University, SRM University, ITM University, BML Munjal University, Delhi University, Indraprastha University and Monad University

Government Engineering College

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Delhi Technological University, Gautam Buddha University School of Engineering, Government Engineering College Bharatpur

Private Engineering College

JSS Academy of Technical Education, Modinagar Institute of Technology, Meerut Institute of Engineering and Technology, Krishna Institute of Engineering and Technology, Institute of Management and Research, Babu Banarsi Das Institute of Engineering Technology & Research Centre, RP Inderaprastha Institute of Technology, Doon Valley Institute of Technology, MSIET (Maa Saraswati Institute of Engineering and Technology),

Management

Indian Institute of Management Rohtak, Faculty of Management Studies,Gautam Buddha University School of Management, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, IMT Ghaziabad, New Delhi Institute of Management, IILM Gurgaon

Counter magnets

Counter-magnet towns are identified as those that can be developed as alternative centres of growth and attract migrants to them rather than Delhi. Promoting growth of counter magnet towns are the principal components of the strategy to reduce both migration and population explosion in the Delhi metropolitan area.

These towns are located in six states-Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, in addition to Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan, which are already part of the national capital region.

The criteria for selecting counter magnet towns are: that they should not be within approximately 250 kilometres from Delhi, should have their own established roots and potential of growth and should not be centres of either religious, strategic or environmental importance.

These are:^[10]^[11]