Infrastructure injection key fillip for Delhi's Dwarka

Three decades after it was planned as Delhi’s third sub-city, Dwarka is set for a major transformation that will bring to the neighbourhood one of India’s largest convention and exhibition spaces, two key highways to ease connectivity and get Gurugram closer, one of the largest public parks in Delhi, and a 50-hectare sports facility that will feature a 30,000-seater stadium.

Around 25km southwest of Connaught Place, Dwarka is still largely a residential hub, with a large number of high-rise apartment complexes for lower-- and middle-income groups.

By 2025, however, at least five major projects — the India International Convention and Expo Centre (IICC), the Dwarka Expressway, the Urban Extension Road-2, Bharat Vandana Park and a major sports facility — is expected to kick-start growth in the area and turn the hitherto insular area into one of the most important parts of the city.

The ongoing work in Dwarka -- in light of the G20 Summit next year and multiple events in the Capital during India’s G20 presidency -- is the third major infrastructure overhaul in the national capital after the 1982 Asian Games, which focused on south Delhi, and the 2010 Commonwealth Games, during which the eastern corner of the city saw significant overhaul.

The ₹25,703-crore IICC, being built in Dwarka’s Sector 25, houses office spaces, retail spaces and hotel rooms, apart from the exhibition halls and convention centre. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed by early next year. A 2km Metro corridor was built between Sector 21 and Section 25 at a cost of ₹300 crore, and is currently going through trial runs.

“Once operational, people will be able to cover a distance of 25km kilometres between Dwarka Sector 25 and New Delhi stations in 25 minutes,” said Anuj Dayal, principal executive director of corporate communications at the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

Work on carving out seamless access to the centre is also fast, said officials aware of the projects.

Two major road projects — the 29.1km-long Dwarka Expressway and 75.7km-long Urban Extension Road-2 (UER-2) -- conceived in 2006-07, are also expected to be completed and fully functional by August 2023.

“The projects will provide smooth access to the centre from different parts Delhi and Gurugram. Also, a 3.6km-long and an eight-lane tunnel (part of the expressway project) is the longest and widest urban road tunnel in India,” Union minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari said earlier this year.

Four kilometres away from IICC, in Sector 19B, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is developing one of Delhi’s biggest sports facilities, which will have a 30,000-seat cricket-and-football stadium, apart from an indoor multi-sports facility.

Spread over 51 acres, it will be DDA’s the first sports project to be developed on a public-private partnership. It will also have commercial facilities, including retail, hotel, hospitality, and office space. The ₹360-crore project, which will be ready by 2025, will be developed by Omaxe Limited, said officials associated with the project.

The upcoming Bharat Vandana Park will also attract tourists to south-west Delhi, officials hope.

Spread over 220 acres of verdant greenery in Dwarka, the Bharat Vandana Park is being developed as a major tourist destination. DDA officials said it will be a one-of-its-kind park with an eco-forest zone, lakes, cultural and adventure sports facilities and a ‘Mini India’ park, which will have replicas of important monuments from different states. The ₹530-crore project is expected to be ready by August 2023, they said.

A new business hub

IICC is expected to make Dwarka a viable business district and create 500,000 employment opportunities, according to the central government. The sports facility will also spur commercial development in the area, by providing room for office and retail activities.

Sabyasachi Das, former planning commissioner in-charge at DDA, who was involved in the planning of Dwarka, said, “When the area was planned, district centres and commercial developments were proposed along the Metro corridor. But in the past three decades, little of this has come to fruition.”

Robin Sharma, president of Dwarka Traders’ Association, who moved to Dwarka in early 2000, said that commercial space in the area has been largely restricted to a few sectors such as 5,6,10,11,12, and malls came up only after 2010.

Conceptualised in the 1980s, the Dwarka sub-city has an estimated population of nearly one million comprising mostly middle and upper middle income groups. There are 352 cooperative group housing societies and 52 pockets that were developed by DDA, making it one of the biggest residential hubs in the city.

Ramesh Menon, an independent policy analyst for Master Plan of Delhi-2021, said there is a need to rethink the future developments in Dwarka and Rohini, and create service industry hubs in these pockets, indicating that the mega projects in Dwarka are a step in the right direction.

“The planning in Delhi of the 1980s and 1990s was focused on housing, local shopping centres, and small format commercial centres. The demand for commercial work and recreational spaces moved to large format development of IT hubs, Cyber Parks and integrated developments, which cities such as Gurugram and Noida offered. DDA continued to develop District Centers through allotment of land which wasn’t the most efficient way to address demand from corporates and occupiers,” said Menon.

“In order to develop Delhi as a centre for economic activity, DDA and policymakers needed to revisit the development plans for vacant land parcels in Rohini and Dwarka. Private sector work ethics, investments and modern development can be encouraged through PPP (public private partnership) or auction mode. Instead of developing district centres, DDA can plan the entire area (on the lines of Jasola and Saket) and allot large plots to private sector to for development,” he said.

Atul Banshal, Director Finance, Omaxe Limited, said, “Given the location and connectivity, Dwarka is one of the potential markets that’s attracting investors and Institutions. The development and construction work of Omaxe mega sports and retail complex/facility for DDA will commence in 2023 under the PPP model. The project is expected to be ready for delivery in three years, subject to the time required to take approvals from various authorities. The project will have a world-class cricket cum football stadium, indoor stadium, and sports complex, it is a thought through commercial complex that will have shopping, dining, and sports-allied activities of global standards.”

Metro boost

The opening of DMRC’s first corridor between Dwarka and Barakhamba Road on December 31, 2005, led to a revival of the sub-city, and prevented it from becoming another Narela — where housing stock has been unsold for decades, largely due to the lack of transport connectivity.

DDA’s former planning commissioner AK JAin, who was also involved in planning Dwarka during its inception the 1980s, said the Metro’s Blue Line was the last major infrastructure project in the neighbourhood. “Even though housing demand picked up, commercial spaces in the area could never be developed, despite Metro connectivity. However, with these new infrastructure projects, the area is set to acquire a new character.”

The Metro corridor today connects Dwarka Sector-21 with Noida City Centre and Vaishali in Ghaziabad. The 56.1km-long corridor with 50 stations is the busiest of Delhi’s Metro 14 corridors.

Rejimon CK, member of Dwarka Forum (an association of resident welfare associations), said, “People started to move to Dwarka because of the Metro connectivity, despite a lack of basic facilities such as water. A lot of people, who have offices in Gurugram, live here. While the Metro has addressed the transport problem to a large extent, road transport infrastructure is still inadequate. The UER-2 and Dwarka Expressway have been in the planning stages for years, but work started only in 2019.”