Haryana is poised to significantly reduce its footprint within the National Capital Region (NCR), with districts such as Panipat, Karnal, Jind, Mahendragarh, and parts of Bhiwani facing the most severe consequences. According to the agenda circulated for the upcoming NCR Planning Board (NCRPB) meeting scheduled for June 16, the re-delineation of the NCR boundary remains a key agenda item. The Draft Regional Plan-2041 (RP-2041), which sets the boundary principles, is expected to be formally progressed.
New Boundary Proposals and Impact on Haryana
The Draft RP-2041, approved in principle at the NCRPB's 41st Board Meeting on October 12, 2021, proposes limiting the NCR to a contiguous circular zone within a 100 km radius from Rajghat, Delhi. Currently, Haryana contributes 14 districts to the NCR: Gurugram, Faridabad, Rohtak, Sonepat, Rewari, Jhajjar, Mewat, Palwal, Panipat, Mahendragarh, Jind, Karnal, Bhiwani, and Charkhi Dadri, covering a combined area of 25,327 sq. km. Under the new boundary formula, this area would be slashed to just 10,546 sq. km, a reduction of nearly 60 percent, as recorded in Chapter 1, Paragraph 1.7.1(viii)(b) of the plan document.
Haryana's Stricter Stance
What makes Haryana's position particularly consequential is its self-imposed stricter stance. As recorded in Paragraph 1.7.1(viii)(a), while Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan agreed to include tehsils even partially within the 100 km radius, Haryana has conveyed its decision to keep only those tehsils within the NCR that are covered entirely within the 100 km radius. Applying this rule, the impact spreads across five to six districts. Karnal city sits approximately 113-121 km straight-line from Delhi, clearly beyond the arc, placing most of the district at risk. Mahendragarh is even farther at roughly 112-113 km, facing near-total exclusion. Jind city sits 103-115 km from Delhi, right on the margin, with tehsils almost certainly extending beyond it. Panipat city, at 88-95 km, is borderline; the city itself may survive, but the wider district extends well past the 100 km mark. Bhiwani city is about 107-108 km away but lies due west of Delhi, meaning some of its closer tehsils may survive depending on the arc. Charkhi Dadri, at roughly 83 km straight-line, is the safest, though some district tehsils could still be clipped. In total, the majority areas of at least five Haryana districts face exclusion from the NCR once the boundary is formally notified.
Proposed Highway Corridor Buffers
Haryana has built in buffers to soften the blow. The state has proposed a 1 km corridor on both sides of eleven National Highways, including NH-44, NH-48, and NH-9, for continued NCR inclusion. Karnal and Panipat, both sitting on NH-44, could see their urban cores retained through this highway corridor provision. Bhiwani has a partial lifeline via NH-148B, and Charkhi Dadri via NH-334B, both on Haryana's named list. Jind and Mahendragarh, notably, do not sit on any of the 11 named highways, giving them no corridor-based safety net whatsoever.
Uncertainty Over Retained Municipal Bodies
Critically, the draft plan document does not name the specific municipal bodies Haryana wants retained. It only states the numbers: 26 Municipal Committees, 13 Municipal Councils, and 7 Municipal Corporations, noting these were conveyed by Haryana to NCRPB as a separate state-level communication not publicly available. Haryana currently has 9 Municipal Corporations in total. Of these, Gurugram, Faridabad, Manesar, and Sonipat sit firmly within the 100 km radius. Panipat Municipal Corporation, given its position on NH-44, is likely on the retained list. Karnal and Rohtak, both on major highways and near the radius, round out the probable seven. But this remains unconfirmed; no annexure in the publicly available draft plan carries the named list, and an RTI with NCRPB would be needed to establish it definitively.
Consequences of Exclusion from NCR
Exclusion from the NCR carries real costs. Towns outside the boundary lose access to NCRPB's infrastructure financing pipeline, which has funded 366 projects worth over Rs 32,000 crore across the region. Land use and development norms would revert entirely to Haryana's Town and Country Planning rules, removing the overriding authority of the NCRPB Act. The proposed 30-minute rail connectivity network, RRTS corridors, and orbital rail planning under RP-2041 are designed only for areas within the NCR boundary. In property markets, loss of NCR status historically triggers land repricing, a pullback by institutional investors, and a slowdown in large-format project approvals. For districts like Karnal, Jind, and Mahendragarh, where NCR-linked land value premiums have shaped real estate and industrial investment decisions since 2015, when they were added to the region, the reversal would be particularly jarring.
