The National Capital Region (NCR) is a coordinated economic and urban planning concept and institution centered on the National Capital Territory of Delhi, encompassing adjacent districts from the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. Its legal foundation is the National Capital Region Planning Board Act, 1985, which received Presidential assent on February 9, 1985. The NCR was created to address the haphazard development and increasing population pressure on Delhi by promoting decentralized growth and evolving harmonized policies for land-use control and infrastructure development across the multi-state region.
The Act established the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB), a statutory body, to prepare a comprehensive Regional Plan for the NCR. The mechanism works through the preparation of this plan, which guides land use, transport, and infrastructure. Section 7 of the Act outlines the functions of the Board, and Section 10 specifies the contents of the Regional Plan. The Act mandates that no development in the NCR can violate the Regional Plan, and its provisions override other non-conforming legislation where there is a conflict.
The NCR is intrinsically connected to the NCRPB Act, 1985, and the various Regional Plans it produces, such as the Regional Plan 2021. Recently, the Regional Plan 2041 was cleared for approval by the NCRPB to replace the Regional Plan 2021. A key recent decision is the retention of the existing geographical extent of the NCR, meaning the boundaries and the inclusion of all 14 districts of Haryana remain the same. The new plan proposes dividing the NCR into three zones for implementing environmental regulations and the development of four new "Namo" cities to absorb future population growth.