Delhi proposes 5-tier plan for business areas

Against the backdrop of the sealing controversy and inadequate authorised commercial space, the Delhi government's ministry of urban development has envisaged a five-tier system of commercial activities""convenience shopping centres, local shopping centres, community centres, district centres and metropolitan city centres""in the draft master plan 2021. The master plan will continue to provide for retail outlets in transport nodes like Metro stations.

The convenience shopping centres would be located in apartment complexes, local shopping centres would cater to a colony, community centres would cover a larger area and include restaurants and small offices, district centres would be a mix of shops and bigger offices and the metropolitan city centres would be modelled along the lines of Connaught Place.

While the land needed to be unlocked for the plan or even the extra supply generated by such a system is unclear, the ministry is hopeful that this will accommodate the required commercial space in an integrated manner.

It remains to be seen whether the government will allow modern structures such as those in Gurgaon and Noida or carry on with its old designs as seen in south Delhi's Saket and Bhikaji Kama, retail analysts say.

"The government has to become more flexible and allow efficient use of land and its development. It is too rigid and likes to control even the smallest of details like the size of windows and width of corridors," said Pankaj Renjhen, regional director, Trammell Crow Meghraj.