The Delhi government plans to develop hostel accommodation for 10,000 college and university students under a public-private partnership (PPP) model, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta reiterated on October 25, as the administration works on measures to address the shortage of safe and affordable student housing.
The proposed hostels will accommodate male and female students enrolled in institutions across the Capital, including private universities. The government is considering the PPP model to speed up construction and improve maintenance and facilities.
“Delhi is gearing up for a major upgrade in student accommodation! New hostels planned for 10,000 students across the Capital,” the Chief Minister’s Office said in a post on X.
The plan was first announced in September following the collapse of a paying guest accommodation building in Satya Niketan that killed seven people, including five students. The incident brought renewed scrutiny to the safety of private student housing in Delhi.
Hostel construction is already under way or has been proposed at Ambedkar University Delhi in Dhirpur, G B Pant Engineering College and Polytechnic, Indira Gandhi Hospital and Medical College, and Delhi Sports University, according to the government. The Health, Higher Education, and Women and Child Development departments are among those involved in the initiative.
The government is also surveying colleges with sufficient space for hostel construction and identifying additional sites. Land may be acquired where necessary. A draft policy covering student accommodation and the facilities to be provided is under preparation, though the government has not announced a completion timeline for the proposed hostels.
Separately, a 20-member high-powered committee chaired by Education and Urban Development Minister Ashish Sood is examining the shortage of student housing and the regulation of paying guest facilities. The committee was formed by Lieutenant-Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu following the Satya Niketan incident.
At its first meeting in September, the committee proposed two digital portals: one to map student data across educational institutions and another for paying guest operators to register their properties and submit details on building age, structural conditions and fire safety.
The committee is also examining mandatory registration of paying guest accommodation, structural and fire-safety audits, emergency evacuation procedures and a digital grievance mechanism for students. It has been tasked with submitting recommendations within 60 days.
The hostel proposal comes as universities in Delhi also seek to expand residential capacity. Delhi University has 3,422 hostel seats at the university level and 3,788 across its colleges. Ongoing and planned projects are expected to increase the combined capacity to 12,754 seats.
The government has yet to disclose the estimated cost of its 10,000-student hostel project, the number of facilities planned or the eligibility criteria for admission.
