In Pocket 6, the DDA will put 936 flats — 232 for HIG, 448 for MIG, and 256 for EWS — on offer. The largest cluster in the upcoming scheme will be Pocket 13, where 1,552 flats will be offered. It will have 352 units for HIG, 776 for MIG, and 424 for EWS.

The significance

This is the DDA’s latest initiative to offload its housing inventory in an area where it has struggled previously.

The Narela sub-city, which was recently renamed Vindhyachal, is one of the three mega sub-city projects of the DDA, the others being Dwarka and Rohini. While work in Narela started in the late 1980s, alongside Rohini and Dwarka sub-cities, construction picked up only around 2000, with the DDA having started to offer flats for purchase around 2010.

Over the years, the DDA has struggled to find buyers for its housing inventory of more than 70,000 flats primarily due to a lack of connectivity with other parts of Delhi. By the end of 2023, it had more than 40,000 unsold flats in Narela. The Indian Express previously reported that people residing there complain of substandard construction, erratic water supply, non-maintenance of common facilities and lack of security arrangements.

Officials claim that the sale of affordable housing have picked up this year owing to progress on some key infrastructural projects. The UER-II was completed in August this year, and the Union Cabinet approved the proposal for the Rithala-Narela-Nathupur (Kundli) corridor of the Delhi Metro’s Phase-IV project last December that is expected to be completed in the next four-five years.

The DDA has also been attempting to rebuild the area’s image. Apart from renaming the sub-city to Vindhyachal, it also wants to position the area as an education and sports hub, by allotting land parcels to various educational institutes and sports facilities. It has also been attempting to make bulk allotment of flats to government institutions and public sector undertakings by offering discounts.

The DDA has also claimed that the previous AAP-led government was non-cooperative with the agency, highlighting that the Delhi Transport Corporation and the Delhi Jal Board were not providing services despite payments being made. With a BJP-led government at the helm of the Capital now, the DDA hopes to see growth in Narela.