NEW DELHI: The Delhi Master Plan 2047 has identified Narela and Dwarka as two key centres for the capital’s future growth, with Narela envisioned as a 138-hectare education and innovation hub and Dwarka as a investment and medical hub. The plan was notified by the Centre, a week after lieutenant governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu approved of it.
According to the master plan, the proposed education hub in Narela will bring together universities, research institutions, vocational training and start-ups with the aim of developing a knowledge-based economy and generating skilled employment. It aims to identify the hub to promote the capital as centre for research, technology and entrepreneurship.
Under MPD-2047, Narela has already been designated as a separate planning zone among Delhi’s 17 planning zones to ensure its systematic development. The education strategy goes beyond universities and seeks to strengthen institutional hubs by promoting educational, healthcare, research, cultural and public-service institutions to meet the city’s future requirements.
Narela will witness the development of public and private institutions and is expected to complement the existing education ecosystem. The master plan describes the capital as a major regional education hub, supported by universities, colleges, research institutions, medical and vocational institutes and skill centres.
On the other hand, Dwarka has been identified as an ‘international gateway’ and a major investment and medical hub, with the potential to attract investment and employment and high-value services. The plan proposes an integrated network of hospitals, medical colleges, speciality healthcare facilities and wellness centres, with healthcare infrastructure being better distributed and integrated with residential areas and public transport. It seeks to strengthen the city’s position as a national healthcare hub and destination for medical tourism through world-class tertiary and super-speciality facilities.
The plan noted that the city needs to augment its secondary and tertiary healthcare infrastructure and has the potential to develop specialised healthcare facilities and ancillary services to cater to growing medical tourism.
It also identifies tertiary healthcare and related research and development as important economic activities in addition to their role in providing specialised medical care. The plan also seeks to develop Dwarka as a key investment destination by leveraging its strategic location, connectivity through the metro network, Dwarka Expressway, UER-II and proximity to Indira Gandhi International Airport.
The two proposed hubs are part of Master Plan-2047’s broader attempt to decentralise the growth and create specialised economic and institutional centres rather than concentrating these activities in just the traditional central parts of city.
