New Delhi: With India increasingly bidding for major international sporting events and working towards developing facilities of global standards, Master Plan of Delhi (MPD) 2047 has laid out a framework to strengthen the city’s sports infrastructure and facilitate the development of international-standard sporting venues.International-standard sports facilities have been proposed in emerging growth centres, including Narela, Dwarka and Rohini sub-city. “MPD 2047 builds on Delhi’s existing network of major sports infrastructure, including Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Shivaji Stadium, 23 DDA sports complexes and three golf courses. The plan seeks to improve Delhi’s capacity to host national and international sporting events,” sources said. The gazette notification of MPD 2047 is yet to be issued by central govt.One of the significant changes is greater flexibility in the use of sports facilities. Earlier categorised under ’public and semi-public (PSP)’ land use, sports facilities are now under the recreational category. While PSP broadly refers to land and buildings for community services, governance, healthcare and education, the recreational category covers leisure, sports, entertainment and green areas.Welcoming the move, former DDA planning commissioner Sabyasachi Das said that for recreational spaces, the authority could now define exactly how much area can be used for non-sports facilities, with greater emphasis on retaining green space.MPD 2047 has prescribed development control norms for different categories of sports facilities. Community, district and divisional sports centres will have a maximum ground coverage of 20% and FAR of 40. For golf courses and clubs, the maximum ground coverage will be 10% and FAR of 20.“For international sports centres, development norms will be decided on a case-by-case basis,” officials said. “This will provide flexibility for facilities requiring specialised infrastructure depending on the sport, scale and nature of the venue.”The changes also include an increase in the permissible commercial component from 5% to 10-25% of the utilised FAR/built-up area, offering operators greater scope to generate revenue and make large sports facilities more financially sustainable. The master plan lays down detailed norms covering plot sizes, road widths, and the extent of commercial and supporting activities within sports facilities unlike in the past.The norms also provide for supporting commercial activities at golf courses and clubs. Up to 20% of the FAR can be used for shops, restaurants or cafeterias, bank extension counters, offices, hotels, recreational clubs and information counters.
