UP Government Approves Noida Authority's Master Plan 2041 for DNGIR (New Noida)

What was decided

The decision on record is the Uttar Pradesh state government's approval of the Noida Authority's Master Plan 2041 for the Dadri-Noida-Ghaziabad Investment Region (DNGIR), the project marketed as 'New Noida.' The Noida Authority declared the DNGIR Master Plan 2041 as approved, a plan that has been popularised by the Uttar Pradesh government as 'New Noida.' Noida Authority CEO Lokesh M confirmed the state clearance and said the plan had been uploaded to the Authority's portal for public access, as the CEO stated the Uttar Pradesh government had approved the master plan for the construction of New Noida and it had been uploaded on the Authority's portal.

Approval timeline

This was not a single-step decision but the final stage of a multi-year process. In the 210th board meeting of the Noida Authority on 13 August 2023, headed by Manoj Kumar Singh, Uttar Pradesh additional chief secretary and chairman of the authority, the Authority approved a draft Master Plan 2041 for New Noida for which around 21,000 hectares of land would be acquired.

Public objections were then invited, and the draft was revised before being sent up for state approval. It was submitted to the government for approval on 12 January 2024, following a request for objections in September 2023. The Authority had raised 19 objections in the plan, which were later amended before final clearance. The state government's approval was publicly confirmed by the Authority in October 2024.

Operative area and villages

The formal notification defines the planning area precisely. The authority notified the area measuring 209.11 square km across 84 villages on 18 October 2024, of which 63 are located in Bulandshahr and 21 in Gautam Budh Nagar. Some early reporting described the acquisition footprint as roughly 80 villages; the new town of DNGIR covers an area of 209.11 square kilometers and includes 84 villages spread across Gautam Buddha Nagar and Bulandshahr, with 63 in Bulandshahr and 21 in Gautam Buddha Nagar; Sikandrabad town itself is excluded, though parts of Sikandrabad Industrial Areas I and II fall within the planning area.

In hectare terms, the land needed for New Noida will occupy 209.11 square kilometres, or 20,911.29 hectares, for which a notification was also issued.

Phased development schedule

Development is structured across four time-bound phases rather than a single build-out. Development is to occur in four phases: Phase 1 covering 3,165 hectares by 2027; Phase 2 covering 3,798 hectares by 2032; Phase 3 covering 5,908 hectares by 2037; and Phase 4 covering 8,230 hectares by 2041. These figures are widely repeated across coverage of the approval, including in reporting that describes the area's development taking place in four phases, with the first phase covering 3,165 hectares set for completion by 2027, a second phase adding 3,798 hectares between 2027 and 2032, a third phase adding 5,908 hectares by 2037, and a fourth phase bringing total land use to 8,230 hectares by 2041.

Land-use allocation

The approved plan sets out a broad land-use split rather than a parcel-by-parcel scheme. According to the plan, 40 per cent of the land will be allocated for industrial area, 18 per cent for green area and recreational activities, 13 per cent for residential area, and the remaining land for institutional and other uses. Industrial floorspace is further broken down in some reporting: the industrial area will be settled in 8,420.92 hectares in the new city, with mixed industry occupying 165.22 hectares.

Practical effect: from plan to acquisition

Approval and notification set up, but did not by themselves complete, the acquisition process. Several months after the Master Plan approval, the Authority moved to fix a compensation benchmark: in April, the Noida Authority fixed land acquisition rates for the project at Rs 4,300 per square metre, matching the revised rate set by the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) for the Jewar Airport project.

Ground-level acquisition activity followed later still. The Noida Authority initiated the process of land acquisition covering 37 villages in Gautam Buddh Nagar and Bulandshahr for DNGIR, with the first phase acquiring land from 24 villages in Bulandshahr and 13 in Gautam Buddh Nagar through consent-based acquisition. Officials described the mechanism in direct terms: an officer on special duty of the Noida Authority said land from 24 villages in Bulandshahr and 13 in Gautam Buddh Nagar would be acquired in the first phase through consent-based acquisition.

Authority officials have also described a hybrid acquisition approach going forward: the Noida Authority is preparing to acquire land through a hybrid model combining direct purchase, mutual consent, and land pooling, aimed at ensuring farmer participation and fair compensation, with a dedicated office of revenue inspectors, tehsildars, and naib tehsildars to manage the process starting near the Eastern Peripheral Expressway and GT Road junction.

Context and rationale

The Master Plan responds to land scarcity in the existing Noida-Greater Noida footprint. The approval of the Master Plan 2041 is intended to solve the issue of land shortage in Noida, which has already reached 95% development, by making room for more homes, offices, and factories. The plan was drafted with technical support from a Delhi-based planning institute: the Noida Authority gave the task of creating the new plan to New Delhi's School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), which formulated the draft.