The Union government can reclaim leased land before or after the expiry of lease agreements whenever public interest requires it, Union housing and urban affairs minister Manohar Lal Khattar stressed on Monday.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the BRICS Urbanisation Forum, Khattar said rapid urbanisation and the growing scarcity of developable land have made such re-entry provisions increasingly important.
The government has the right to take back leased land whenever public interest demands it, Khattar said, while declining to specify the nature of developments that may be proposed on such land in future.
The Centre, through the Land and Development Office (L&DO), administers 60,526 residential, commercial, industrial and institutional leases spread across 19,995 acres – about 5.5% of Delhi’s total land area.
Khattar also said the long-pending Master Plan for Delhi is likely to be notified soon, which requires only one final meeting with the Union home ministry before it is cleared.
The Master Plan for the National Capital Region (NCR) is also expected to be finalised shortly, with a meeting scheduled for June 16 to address the remaining objections and improve coordination among Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
