UP Government Approves Tappal-Bajna Urban Centre Under Master Plan 2031 (2017 Original Approval)

What was decided

The Uttar Pradesh state government approved Tappal-Bajna Urban Centre as a designated urban centre under YEIDA's Master Plan 2031. In 2017, the Uttar Pradesh government approved two major urban centers under the Master Plan-2031: Raya Urban Centre in Mathura and Tappal-Bajna Urban Centre in Aligarh. This was described in later official communications as one of the concluding original approvals under the plan: the last major urban centres under Master Plan 2031—Raya Urban Centre (Mathura) and Tappal-Bajna Urban Centre (Aligarh)—were approved in 2017.

No source reviewed for this record gives an exact day or month for the 2017 approval, only the year. Readers should treat 2017 as the approval year, not a precise date.

Who decided, and how it fits the wider plan

The decision sat inside a much larger planning exercise. YEIDA's Master Plan 2031 Phase-2 proposal, which was first introduced in 2012-13 but remained pending for over a decade, has finally received approval. Tappal-Bajna's 2017 notification was carved out ahead of that broader Phase-2 sign-off. The scale of the full Phase-2 exercise, of which Tappal-Bajna is one component, is large: the entire project covers approximately 3,352 sq km, spanning 1,149 villages across six districts; Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Agra, Aligarh, Mathura, and Hathras. YEIDA Phase I spans 759 sq km, covering Gautam Buddha Nagar and Bulandshahr. YEIDA Phase II will extend over 2,593 sq km, bringing major urban transformations to Mathura, Agra, Aligarh, and Hathras.

Within that Phase-2 framework, YEIDA Phase II will establish four major urban centres: Raya Urban Center (Mathura), Tappal-Bajna Urban Center (Aligarh), Agra Urban Center, Hathras Urban Center. Tappal-Bajna's original 2017 approval therefore pre-dates and anchors the later, formal Phase-2 master plan approval that the state government issued on 24 March 2025, which folded Tappal-Bajna back into a state-wide framework alongside Raya, Agra and Hathras.

Operative details: area, location and boundaries

The urban centre's footprint has been stated at just over 11,000 hectares. Tappal-Bajna Urban Centre will be developed in 11,104 hectares. A separate report converts this to acreage: the logistics park, part of YEIDA's Master Plan 2031 (Phase II), is set to be developed on 364 acres within the Tappal-Bajna Urban Centre — a 27,438-acre industrial and residential township near the Noida International Airport.

Location and character: the Tappal-Bajna Urban Centre in Aligarh is situated near the Noida International Airport at Jewar. Being close to Noida International Airport, the Authority is giving priority to industrial townships, besides logistics and warehousing activities here.

The flagship component: the Multi-Modal Logistics Park

The centrepiece project sanctioned for the area is a logistics park. YEIDA's own project page confirms the concept: the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority has proposed to develop a Multimodal Logistics Park (MMLP) facility at Tappal Bajna located within YEIDA, with the objective to optimize the present potential, enhance investment climate and promote the economic development of the area with major thrust on industrial activities.

Scale and cost: the plan includes key projects like a INR 7,200 crore Heritage City in Mathura's Raya Urban Centre and a 364-acre Logistics Park in Aligarh's Tappal-Bajna township near the upcoming Noida International Airport. A more detailed cost and phasing figure appears in coverage of a later encroachment dispute: the park, which is estimated to cost around INR 1,040 crore, will be developed in three phases, with the first phase covering 205 acres, including 154 acres dedicated to logistics operations.

Land acquisition mechanics for the first phase were also reported separately: land acquisition policy will be used for taking over 250 hectares for developing the first phase of the logistics park in Tappal Bajana. A wider acquisition target for the urban centre has also been cited: YEIDA is to acquire 1,900 hectares of land in Aligarh's Tappal village for the logistics park and other projects under its master plan; last year, the Authority issued a notification to acquire 736 hectares in Tappal, and the process of conducting a social impact assessment (SIA) is currently underway.

Practical effect of the 2017 decision

The 2017 approval gave YEIDA the legal planning basis to begin identifying land, preparing a Detailed Project Report (DPR), and eventually notifying acquisition areas for Tappal-Bajna — steps that would not otherwise have had master-plan cover. By the time the broader Phase-2 master plan was formally approved in March 2025, groundwork for Tappal-Bajna was already advanced: detailed project reports (DPRs) have been prepared for Raya and Tappal-Bajna Urban Centers, with developers being finalised.

The practical downside of an approved-but-only-partially-acquired urban centre has also materialised on the ground. Because the area was notified for industrial/logistics use but full acquisition and fencing had not been completed, informal residential plotting spread: after widespread encroachments were reported in the Tappal-Bajna area of Aligarh, a region identified by YEIDA to develop a logistics park and industrial projects, the Authority requested the Aligarh administration to halt land registries and ban all unauthorised residential and other constructions within the notified area, since registrations done under residential category could make it difficult for the Authority to evict plot owners, which could jeopardise the multi-modal logistics park scheme. Officials flagged the scale of this problem: in Dec last year, YEIDA CEO Arun Vir Singh had written to the Aligarh administration flagging that unauthorised colonies had come up at 90 villages. Unauthorised residential plots were reported changing hands at prices ranging from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 per square metre, depending on the location.

Status as of March 2025

As of the most recent reporting reviewed (late March 2025), Tappal-Bajna Urban Centre remains at the planning/DPR and partial-land-acquisition stage rather than an operational township. The Uttar Pradesh government has approved the Master Plan 2031 Phase-2 for urban development in Aligarh, Mathura, Hathras, and Agra along the 165-km Yamuna Expressway, the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) announced on 24 March. This reaffirmed, rather than replaced, the original 2017 sanction for Tappal-Bajna, and formally cleared the way for the logistics park and other components to proceed to execution. The approval also aligns with the upcoming operational launch of Noida International Airport in April 2025, which is expected to be a major catalyst for the region's economic growth.