Authorities Made Easy: Building Plan Sanction and Land Use in Delhi (2026 Guide)

In Delhi, getting a building plan sanctioned comes down to two questions: what the Master Plan says your land may be used for, and which body sanctions buildings where your plot sits. For most houses the answer to the second is the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), and for small residential plots the sanction is now released online on your architect's filing.

The bigger news is the rulebook. The long-awaited Master Plan for Delhi 2041 was never notified; instead the Master Plan for Delhi 2047 was notified on 20 August 2026 and has replaced MPD-2021.

First question: which authority sanctions your building?

The North, South and East Delhi Municipal Corporations were subsumed into a single Municipal Corporation of Delhi by the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022, and a Home Ministry notification (S.O. 2303(E)) constituted the unified corporation on 22 May 2022. Any guide that tells you to file with "SDMC" or "North MCD" is out of date.

• Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD): most of the city, including planned colonies, urban villages and regularised colonies. Plans go through MCD's Online Building Permit System, reached from the MCD Ease of Doing Business citizen corner.
• New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC): the New Delhi area. Its Architecture and Environs department controls construction there, and plans are filed on the NDMC Online Building Plan Approval System. See the NDMC Architect department page for contacts.
• Delhi Development Authority (DDA): the planning authority for the whole city, which writes the Master Plan and notifies the building bye-laws. It also sanctions plans on its own Online Building Permit System, including projects under its new Transit Oriented Development and High Density Corridor policies.

If a seller cannot tell you which authority applies, treat it as a warning sign. Our plot due diligence checklist covers the other checks to run before you pay.

The two rulebooks that apply in Delhi

Land use: the Master Plan for Delhi 2047

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs notified MPD-2047 by S.O. 4597(E) dated 20 August 2026, under Section 11-A of the Delhi Development Act, 1957, as an extensive modification of MPD-2021. It came into effect on publication. The notification records that it follows the draft modifications DDA published for objections in June 2021, the draft widely known as MPD-2041, which was finally approved with a 2047 horizon.

DDA's FAQs on MPD-2047 confirm that it supersedes MPD-2021, that plans approved earlier continue under the earlier norms until you take additional FAR or a revised sanction, and how to find your land use: read the Use Zone on DDA's Land Use Plan 2047, then the Use Premise on the approved layout plan for your colony.

Some portal pages still link to MPD-2021. Work from MPD-2047, which DDA publishes in full on its Master Plan for Delhi 2047 page.

What MPD-2047 allows on a residential plot

Table 7.2 of the notified plan sets the development controls for plotted housing. For the plot sizes most families build on:

The same table sets a minimum plot of 32 sq m, a height limit of 15 m (ground plus three floors) without stilt parking or 17.5 m (stilt plus four floors) with it, and makes stilt parking mandatory on plots from 100 to 750 sq m. Residential plots may not be subdivided, and only two plots of up to 64 sq m may be amalgamated. If FAR and coverage are new terms, our explainer on setbacks, FAR and height limits walks through them.

The building: Unified Building Bye-Laws for Delhi 2016

How the building is designed, documented and sanctioned is governed by the Unified Building Bye-Laws (UBBL) for Delhi 2016, notified by S.O. 1191(E) on 22 March 2016. DDA's building approval department page lists the amendments since then, the latest being S.O. 2615(E) of 29 June 2021, and DDA hosts the bye-law and amendment files on its building bye-laws page. According to DDA, UBBL 2016 brought in risk-based classification of buildings, a maximum of 30 days for local bodies to grant a permit, outside NOCs (NMA, Delhi Fire Service, AAI, DUAC, DMRC and others) folded into the online process, environment clearance built into the sanction for buildings of up to 1,50,000 sq m, and the Saral scheme for residential plots of up to 105 sq m.

Step one: confirm the land use and the layout plan

MCD's portal is blunt about the first requirement: the plot should be part of an approved layout plan. Look them up on MCD's Town Planning citizen page. Check the Land Use Plan 2047 too: a permit does not cure a use the plan forbids.

Delhi has no routine "agricultural to residential" conversion counter like Maharashtra's or Karnataka's. On our reading of MPD-2047, outer farmland is governed by policy, not plot-by-plot conversion:

• Land pooling areas (Planning Zones K-I, L, N, P-II and parts of J and P-I): landowners of any size can join, with schemes of at least 20 hectares, up to 60 per cent of the pooled land available to landowners for development and an FAR of 200. DDA's FAQs say no further development is allowed on such land except through the land pooling policy.
• Low Density Areas (one village depth along the Delhi border, plus the former Low Density Residential Areas): a residential plot needs at least 10,000 sq m, with FAR 10, 15 per cent ground coverage and a 10 m height limit, and half the plot kept green.

If a plot is sold as "agricultural land, house allowed", ask in writing which of these categories it falls in before you pay anything.

Step two: unauthorised colonies and regularisation

2026 brought real change for Delhi's unauthorised colonies.

• Ownership comes first. Ownership rights are conferred under the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Unauthorised Colonies) Regulations, 2019, as MPD-2047 (clause 4.6.2) confirms. Development control norms for these colonies were notified on 8 March 2022, according to the 2023 amendment bill below.
• As is, where is. On 7 April 2026, Union Housing Minister Manohar Lal announced that 1,511 unauthorised colonies outside the exclusion criteria will be regularised without approved layout plans, with all plots treated as residential land use, according to News On AIR. Future construction must follow municipal norms.
• Protection from sealing has a date. The National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second Act, 2011 shields specified unauthorised development from punitive action. Parliament extended it to 31 December 2026 (PRS Legislative Research). We found no notice of a further extension as of 16 October 2026.
• Regeneration. MPD-2047 lets residents' groups or a developer prepare regeneration schemes for unauthorised colonies of at least 2,000 sq m, with a layout plan approved first and then individual building plans sanctioned under UBBL.

Regularising a colony does not sanction your building: a new floor or a rebuild still needs a filed plan.

Step three: the building permit

MCD's citizen corner sorts fresh residential plans by risk and plot size:

• Up to 105 sq m (Saral, very low risk) and 105 to 500 sq m (low risk), with no NOC needed and not on a notified road: MCD lists the empanelled professional as the sanctioning authority. MCD's flowcharts show the professional uploading drawings, ownership proof, an e-undertaking and a structural stability certificate; after the automatic check and fee payment, the sanction is released.
• Above 500 sq m, any plot that needs an NOC, or a plot on a notified commercial or mixed-use road: the MCD Building Department approves, after any NOCs.

Who may file matters. MCD allows an empanelled architect to prepare plans for a plot of any size, an engineer up to 500 sq m and a supervisor up to 200 sq m. That is the practical reason to appoint an architect early: the person who signs your drawings is the person who files them.

Fees. MCD's schedule of charges (dated 1 October 2024) sets the building permit fee at ₹10 per sq m of built-up area, including basement and stilt, plus an IT charge of ₹2,000 for a Saral plan or ₹5,000 for a plot up to 500 sq m. Other charges, such as construction waste, material stacking and additional FAR, depend on the plot and the colony category, and the schedule lists a special charge for agricultural, Low Density and land pooling land. For a realistic construction budget once the sanction is in hand, see our Delhi NCR construction cost breakdown.

Step four: the milestones people miss

The plinth certificate. Once the plinth is built, you apply with documents and photographs, and the authority inspects it against the sanctioned plan before you go higher, according to MCD's stages of approval. MCD's charges schedule, citing UBBL 2016, sets a ₹500 fee for the plinth intimation.

The completion and occupancy certificate. On completion, the authority inspects for FAR, setbacks and fire safety before issuing it. Occupying without one is not free: MCD's charges schedule lists a pre-occupancy charge of ₹25,000 per dwelling unit for residential buildings occupied without a completion-cum-occupancy certificate.

Validity. A permit can be revalidated for up to five years at a time, at ₹10 per sq m of built-up area per year. If you are planning a small house, our guide to what you can build on a small plot shows how these rules shape the design.

The sequence, in one place

1. Find the authority: MCD, NDMC or DDA.
2. Check the land use on the Land Use Plan 2047 and confirm the plot is in an approved layout plan.
3. If the colony is unauthorised, get ownership recognised under the 2019 regulations first.
4. If the land is farmland, find out whether it is in a land pooling area or a Low Density Area.
5. Appoint an empanelled architect. They hold the portal login.
6. File on the online building permit system against UBBL 2016 and MPD-2047, and pay the fees.
7. Build to plinth and get the plinth certificate before going higher.
8. Complete construction and apply for the completion-cum-occupancy certificate.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Delhi Master Plan 2041 in force?

No. MPD-2041 stayed a draft. The Centre notified the Master Plan for Delhi 2047 on 20 August 2026 (S.O. 4597(E)), and it supersedes MPD-2021. Plans sanctioned earlier remain valid.

How long does building plan sanction take in Delhi?

Under UBBL 2016, local bodies have a maximum of 30 days to grant a permit. For a house of up to 500 sq m in MCD's area with no NOC, the sanction is released online once your professional's filing passes the automatic check and the fees are paid.

Can I build a house on agricultural land in Delhi?

Not on a building permit alone. In land pooling areas, development happens only through the land pooling policy; in Low Density Areas, a residential plot needs at least 10,000 sq m.

Can I get a building plan sanctioned in an unauthorised colony?

Ownership has to be recognised first, under the 2019 regulations. New construction must follow municipal norms, so you still need a sanctioned plan.

Approvals go faster with someone who has filed in your area before. Browse architects practising in Delhi on MOA, see their published work and message them directly, with no commission on either side.

Sources

• Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs: Gazette notification S.O. 4597(E), Master Plan for Delhi 2047 (20 Aug 2026), including Table 7.2 and clauses 4.4 and 4.6.2 (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Delhi Development Authority: FAQs on MPD-2047 and Master Plan for Delhi 2047 page (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Delhi Development Authority: About building approval department (UBBL 2016 and amendments) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Municipal Corporation of Delhi: Ease of Doing Business citizen corner, risk categories and flowcharts and stages of approval (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Municipal Corporation of Delhi: Charges for sanctioning of building plan (1 Oct 2024) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• PRS India: The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022 (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Ministry of Home Affairs: Gazette notification S.O. 2303(E), constituting the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on 22 May 2022 (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• PRS Legislative Research: The National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Bill, 2023 (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• News On AIR: Centre announces regularisation of unauthorised colonies in Delhi on as-is where-is basis (8 Apr 2026) (accessed 16 Oct 2026)
• Other official portals linked above: NDMC, DDA OBPS, DDA building bye-laws and MCD Town Planning (accessed 16 Oct 2026)

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