Put together, it could be the 30th state of the country. It covers almost half of Haryana, and if you travel 200 km out of Delhi into Rajasthan, you would still find yourself in the largest urban agglomeration in the world, the national capital region (NCR).
With a recent expansion by the inclusion of three more districts, Mahendragarh and Bhiwani (Haryana) and Bharatpur (Rajasthan), the number of districts in NCR has increased to 19, with the total area increasing by 34% to 45,887 sq km.
In existence since 1985 and housing just a little less than five crore people, NCR will soon undergo another set of expansion. Haryana wants Jind and Karnal in NCR, while UP is pushing for the inclusion of Mathura-Vrindavan.
But has NCR served the purpose of its existence? This is still being debated as the only parameter available to gauge the prosperity of the capital region is real estate prices, which have proven to be a goldmine for builders and residents.
Overall, the development in NCR has been restricted to Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad and Greater Noida, cities that share immediate borders with the capital. That, too, because multinational companies did not find enough space in the capital. However, in the so-called millennium cities, services continue to remain as those of a mofussil town (almost 80% of New Gurgaon lives on borewell water). The lack of infrastructure and planned growth is especially glaring in cities such as Meerut, Bulandshahr and Baghpat.
This despite the fact that the NCR Planning Board (NCRPB) provides financial assistance in the form of soft loans to the extent of 75% of the project cost. The NCRPB has provided assistance for 277 infrastructure projects worth R18,994 crore till March.
The idea of NCR takes another hit with poor connectivity. For instance, Delhi autos do not go to satellite towns, thanks to the Metro. ?In Europe, you can take a taxi to a neighbouring country,? rues Nitin Puri, a Gurgaon resident.
However, the government feels NCR has given a push to investment outside Delhi, and small towns are gradually showing improvement. ?The expansion of NCR is aimed at promoting balanced regional development with urban infrastructure facilities that are comparable with Delhi,? an urban ministry officer told FE. ?Today, Bhiwani is emerging as a major investment centre, which would not have been possible without the NCR tag,? a Haryana government official added.
But then Haryana has every reason to be positive. The state has benefited the most from NCR, as so far, it has 106 completed projects at an estimated cost of R4,683 crore and a sanctioned loan amount of R2,581 crore. There are 76 ongoing projects under NCRPB funding in Haryana with an estimated cost of R9,238 crore and with a sanctioned loan amount of R3,728 crore.
With the auto industry spreading near Manesar and Dharuhera (which house Maruti and Hero), prosperity is visible. Bhiwani, some 125 km from Delhi, and Mahendragarh, about 70 km from there, already sport international retail brands and finance companies? offices. In Bharatpur, Rajasthan, some 200 km from Delhi, builders have already made inroads into the city, but the same story of development versus status is repeated here.
