NEW DELHI: The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) plans to transform a 60-acre vacant tract near Narela’s DSIDC industrial area into a licensed Education City, launching a public tender to attract private developers for building institutes, labs, and student-focused facilities.
According to DDA documents, the proposed “Educational City” is envisioned as a world-class learning cluster comprising technical institutes, colleges, schools, and research centres. It will also feature digital learning zones, laboratories, libraries, and innovation hubs. Under the tender, private firms are required to submit detailed project reports. Successful bidders will receive 55-year licence rights in exchange for a licence fee payable to the DDA.
The authority first outlined the concept earlier this year when Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena announced a Rs 500-crore initiative to create a major education and research hub in North Delhi.
Beyond academic spaces, the project blueprint includes auditoriums, convention centres, amphitheatres, and a civic centre, along with retail amenities such as cafés, bookstores, and recreational outlets to enhance student and visitor engagement. Officials said the licence-auction model aims to leverage private investment and operational expertise while ensuring regulatory oversight.
Currently classified as residential in the Master Plan of Delhi 2021, the land is undergoing a change of land use to public and semi-public. Urban planners and prospective institutional partners are monitoring the tender process, which could define connectivity, scale, and institutional character. If executed as planned, the Education City could emerge as a new innovation and learning hub in North Delhi.
