KMP-EPE Golden Ring: NCR's $5 Trillion Growth Engine

The NCR Draft Regional Plan 2041 has designated the 135-km KMP corridor as the 'Golden Ring of Opportunity' — the highest-intensity development zone in the entire NCR. The Draft Regional Plan-2041, to be advanced at the NCRPB Board Meeting on June 16, has officially designated the belt encompassing the KMP and Eastern Peripheral Expressway as the Central NCR or CNCR and given it an unambiguous economic mandate: the Golden Ring of Opportunity.

The proposal designates the area between the KMP and Eastern Peripheral Expressway as the Central NCR (CNCR) and envisions it as the region's primary economic growth engine. Of these five, the CNCR gets the highest-intensity development mandate: dense mixed-use land use, maximum floor area ratios, TOD clusters around transport nodes and priority infrastructure investment. This strategic designation positions the 135-km ring around Delhi as the most critical growth corridor for the next two decades.

Haryana has proposed developing areas around the KMP Expressway as Panchgrams — five greenfield townships spread across 2.5 lakh hectares, with development planned 2 to 6 kilometres on both sides of the expressway loop, to be governed by a dedicated Panchgram Development Authority. All new settlements within the zone, including brownfield redevelopments, are required to have modern smart civic amenities infrastructure modelled on AURIC City developed by DMICDC.

The draft notes that the NCR currently contributes around 8 per cent of India's GDP and is expected to play a key role in achieving the country's $5 trillion economy target, with the CNCR at the centre of future growth. The government has proposed the NCR Regional Plan 2041, aiming to invest Rs 20 lakh crore into infrastructure, new growth hubs, and high-speed transit. This initiative seeks to reshape the Delhi-NCR urban landscape to accommodate a projected population of 11.3 crore.

Several Multimodal Transport Stations (MMTS) are planned, including one at Panchgaon Chowk, Manesar, linking the Delhi-Alwar RRTS, Gurugram-Manesar Metro and Jhajjar-Palwal rail line. Another major transport hub is proposed at Kherki Daula, Gurugram, integrating RRTS, Metro and bus services. The KMP corridor has already driven significant real estate growth in Manesar, New Gurugram, Sohna, Bahadurgarh and Sonepat.

Sonipat and Panipat are emerging as a major real estate destinations due to major infrastructure projects such as the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway, the Delhi-Panipat Rapid Rail Transit System, and the proposed Delhi-Sonipat-Panipat Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), and also due to presence of top real estate brands like Godrej, Tata Housing, M3M, Ansal, Express Builders, among others foraying here. For homebuyers and investors, the Golden Ring represents a rare opportunity to acquire properties in a zone officially designated for maximum development intensity, infrastructure priority, and long-term capital appreciation.