The National Capital Region (NCR) will get four new ‘Namo’ cities under the proposed ‘NCR Regional Plan 2041’, with one such city each to be developed in Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal said on Tuesday.

The Minister made the announcement after chairing the 42nd board meeting of the NCR Planning Board, which was also attended by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini, and the Urban Development Ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Mr. Lal said the board will provide a performance-linked incentive package of ₹5,000 crore, including grants, loans and guarantees, to support the development of these cities. The Namo cities will be developed as mixed-use, transit-oriented development projects around existing and proposed Namo Bharat Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) stations, and will be identified through a competitive process among the NCR States, said Mr. Lal. Each State can propose three sub-cities from which the final four will be selected. “These four cities will be developed along the RRTS corridors to accommodate the growing population of the region,” Mr. Lal said.

Anti-pollution steps

He also said that the NCR would be divided into three zones under the proposed plan, with the innermost zone, including Delhi and the adjoining ‘Central NCR’, facing the most severe pollution-related restrictions while faraway districts would be exempt.

‘Counter-magnet areas’

The board has also identified nine ‘counter-magnet areas’ — Hisar, Ambala, Kota, Jaipur, Patiala-Rajpura, Kanpur-Lucknow, Bareilly, Gwalior and Dehradun — to promote development outside the core NCR and reduce migration towards the national capital.

The plan was first placed in the public domain in 2021 and received more than 4,500 comments following a public notice issued in December that year. The updated draft was shared with the four constituent States in January this year, and their responses have since been incorporated. “There were a lot of bureaucratic and political hurdles, and we were also reviewing the suggestions to reach a consensus with all NCR States during my two years as the Urban Affairs Minister. It will be declared soon,” Mr. Lal told The Hindu.

The board rejected Haryana’s proposal to expand the existing geographical extent of the NCR to cover the districts of Karnal, Jind, Panipat, Bhiwani and Mahendragarh. Spread across 55,083 sq km, the NCR currently covers Delhi and 27 districts in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Ms. Gupta urged other NCR States to work towards development and reduce pressure on the Capital. “Other NCR States must also make serious efforts towards development so that the growing population pressure on Delhi can be reduced and regional balance can be achieved,” said the Delhi CM.

She added that the meeting included discussions on strengthening regional connectivity.