National Capital Region (NCR)

National capital region

The National Capital Region (NCR) is the designation for a conurbation or metropolitan area in India. It encompasses the entire national capital territory of Delhi, including New Delhi and urban areas surrounding it in neighbouring states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. NCR is India's largest and one of the world's largest agglomeration with a population of over 46,069,000. All the areas of NCR together generated GDP of $128.9 billion in 2011-2012, which was 7.5% of the Indian GDP. Delhi and its urban region have been given the special status of National Capital Region (NCR) under the Constitution of India's 69^th Amendment Act of 1991.
In July 2013, NCR was expanded to include 3 more districts, Bhiwani and Mahendragarh in the state of Haryana, as well as Bharatpur in the state of Rajasthan. This brought the number of districts in NCR to 19, with the total NCR area increasing 34% to 46,208 km². Before July 2013, NCR had a total area of 34,144 km² spanning over 16 districts in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan, together with the National Capital Territory of Delhi, with the Nation Capital as its core.
On 9 June 2015, Government of India approved the inclusion of three more districts in NCR - Jind and Karnal in the state of Haryana and Muzaffar nagar in U.P. There are now a total of 22 districts (plus Delhi NCT) within NCR, covering a total area of 58,332 km².
A total of 22 districts in three neighbouring states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan along with whole of the National Capital Territory of Delhi constitute the National Capital Region (NCR) of India as defined in National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) Act, 1985.
The concept of the National Capital Region was first mentioned in 1962. The plan was to develop a metropolitan region around Delhi in order to divert the escalating pressure of population from Delhi. This plan was necessary in order to protect Delhi's infrastructure from extreme pressure.

Participating States and their Districts in NCR  

1. National Capital Territory of Delhi - It covers Delhi and New Delhi.
2. Haryana – Bhiwani, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Jhajjar (Jhajjar and Bahadurgarh),
3. Mahendragarh, Panipat, Rewari, Rohtak, Sonipat, Mewat, Palwal, Jind, Karnal
4. Uttar Pradesh – Baghpat, Bulandshahr, Gautam Buddha Nagar District (Noida and
5. Greater Noida), Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut Hapur,
6.  Rajasthan – Alwar, Bharatpur

Zones of NCR

•      Faridabad - Ballabgarh Complex

•      Ghaziabad – Loni - Bulandshahr Complex

•      Gurgaon - Manesar Complex

•      Noida - Greater Noida Complex

•      Sonipat - Bahadurgarh Complex

•      Sonipat - Kundli Complex

The planning body for the region is the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB). It has issued two regional plans, the "Regional Plan 2001, National Capital Region" approved in 1988, and the "Regional Plan 2021, National Capital Region" approved in 2005. Topics covered by the 2001 plan included transport, telecommunications, power and water supply, waste and sewerage, education, health, the environment, housing and the "counter magnet" areas. The 2021 plan extended these with the additional topics of social infrastructure, heritage, tourism, rural development and disaster management.