4 min readApr 7, 2026 10:01 AM IST
First published on: Apr 7, 2026 at 10:01 AM IST
The Union government on Tuesday may announce a new policy to regularise all residential and commercial buildings — of up to 20 square metres — in the unauthorised colonies of Delhi, The Indian Express has learnt.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) on Monday said that Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal and Lieutenant-Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu will address a press conference on Tuesday with focus on “Regularisation of unauthorised colony on as is where is basis with simplification of procedures to get both ownership rights and building regularisation”; and “A transformative Transit Oriented Development (TOD) policy for providing affordable housing stock in the city of Delhi”. CM Rekha Gupta will be in attendance at the press briefing. The MoHUA on Monday notified the new TOD policy of Delhi Development Authority.
Parliament had passed the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Unauthorised Colonies) Act, 2019, just ahead of the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections to confer ownership rights to the lakhs of residents of 1,731 unauthorised colonies.
However, PM-UDAY (Pradhan Mantri – Unauthorised Colonies in Delhi Awas Adhikar Yojana) scheme, which was subsequently enforced, found few takers.
As on January 25, as per a reply by the MoHUA in the Rajya Sabha on February 2, only 20,228 conveyance deeds and 18,462 authorisation slips had been executed by the Delhi Development Authority, the implementing agency for PM-UDAY.
Acting on the basis of the feedback, the government is now expected to launch a simplified procedure for the grant of ownership rights, remove certain pre-requisites and also change the implementation agency from the DDA to the Delhi government’s Revenue Department, it has been learnt.
The policy is also likely to provide for the regularisation of buildings by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), making it possible for the owners to avail loans and redevelop their properties. It is likely to cover commercial buildings up to 20 sqm, which would cover local small businesses like kirana shops.
The Minister and L-G are also expected to discuss the DDA’s new TOD policy that has made it mandatory for developers of highrises in the vicinity of Metro or regional transit corridors who want to avail of the higher Floor Area Ratio to construct affordable housing. At least 65% of the total permissible FAR will have to be used for residential units of less than 100 sq.m. of built-up area, including guesthouses or studio apartments, the policy says.
Considered one of the key factors behind the BJP’s electoral success in the Capital against the AAP, the promise of granting “full ownership rights” in unauthorised colonies was part of the party’s Sankalp Patra or manifesto for the 2025 Assembly elections.
At various events since then, including at an inauguration in 2025, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said the scheme would benefit 40 lakh people residing in 1,731 unauthorised colonies.
Shah had made the promise during the BJP’s Lok Sabha campaign in the capital in 2024 followed by a significant and dedicated outreach in such localities both in 2024 and especially in the run up to the 2025 Assembly polls by the BJP in Delhi.
It was also one of the biggest issues which the AAP, after being dislodged from power after over a decade, had sought to raise against the newly-formed BJP Government in the city. After getting over its shock defeat, the AAP had organised its first, big public event against the government over the demolitions in the city’s slums and unauthorised colonies in June 2025.
Parliament had passed the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Unauthorised Colonies) Act, 2019, just ahead of the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections 
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