The New Indian Express ·
Delhi University to more than double hostel capacity, total seats to reach 12,754
NEW DELHI: Delhi University is preparing for an overhaul of its long-strained hostel infrastructure, with the number of residential seats set to more than double to 12,754. The expansion will add 5,544 seats across university and college campuses, with large projects, including a 1,450-seat IoE hostel, a 1,000-seat women’s hostel and a 1,050-seat studio apartment complex, already under construction.
The university said on Thursday that its expansion of student accommodation is aimed at addressing the long-standing demand for hostel facilities and providing more students with access to affordable residential accommodation on or near their campuses.
“At the university level, DU had 3,422 hostel seats over the past 100 years. With 3,922 additional seats being created through new projects, the university’s own hostel capacity is expected to increase to 7,344 seats,” the university said in an official statement.
The university’s colleges are also expanding their residential facilities. Collectively, DU colleges previously had 3,788 hostel seats. With another 1,622 seats being added, the total hostel capacity across the colleges is expected to reach 5,410 seats.
Taken together, the university and its colleges will have approximately 12,754 hostel seats once the ongoing projects are completed.
Several large residential projects are already underway as part of the university’s expansion programme.
One of the significant projects is the Institute of Eminence (IoE) Hostel at the Dhaka Complex, which will provide approximately 1,450 seats. Construction of the hostel is progressing, and the project is expected to be completed shortly.
Another major project is the Nirbhaya Residential Accommodation for women, which is being constructed with a capacity of 1,000 seats. The facility is intended to significantly expand residential options for women students at the university.
In addition, a 1,050-seat Studio Apartment project is also under construction. These projects form part of a broader expansion of student accommodation being undertaken by the university.
The administration said work on several other hostel projects is also progressing and that more projects are expected to be taken up in the near future.
The university administration also stated in its official statement that the increase represents a major expansion of DU’s residential infrastructure. According to the university, hostel capacity has been a focus of its infrastructure development efforts over the past several years.
The expansion is particularly significant because, according to the university’s figures, the number of hostel seats at DU is set to more than double within a period of around four to five years.
The university also indicated that the expansion will not stop with the projects currently under construction. Several additional hostel proposals are expected to be submitted to the government soon for consideration and approval.
Alongside the university-level projects, DU has asked the principals of its affiliated colleges to undertake a comprehensive review of the residential facilities available to students and assess both their existing hostel infrastructure and projects currently under construction.
Where construction is already underway, principals have been urged to take steps to ensure that the projects are completed as quickly as possible so that the facilities can be made available to students without unnecessary delay.