Madhya Pradesh Government Tables Bill To Unlock Metro Regions

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Madhya Pradesh Metropolitan Region Planning and Development Bill 2025 was tabled in the Assembly on Tuesday, laying the groundwork for development of Bhopal and Indore regions as metropolitan cities to boost economic activity.

The bill proposes formation of a Metropolitan Region, Metropolitan Planning Committee and Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MRDA). It outlines detailed procedures for land acquisition, authority constitution and infrastructure planning.

Under the proposed law, land earmarked under any Metropolitan Development and Investment Scheme, City Development Scheme or Region Development Scheme will be deemed essential for public utility, bringing it under the purview of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.

The state government, on the recommendation of the MRDA or local officers, can initiate land acquisition. The MRDA will handle compensation and formal procedures such as public discussion and payment of fixed amounts.

Each metropolitan area will have a Metropolitan Scheme Committee, while the Chief Minister will head the MRDA. The Urban Development Minister, Panchayat Minister and Revenue Minister will serve as vice-chairmen.

Moreover, government can declare any urban or rural area as a development area under the act. The bill also allows merging of two or more metropolitan regions to form a single one.

To implement the bill, the government will set up a Metropolitan Development Fund with an initial corpus of Rs 200 crore. Besides, a Rs 100 crore fund will be created specifically for MRDA to execute projects within its jurisdiction.

Urban sprawl needs control: Min

While tabling the bill, Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya said the act is essential to address challenges of unplanned urban growth around big cities due to rapid urbanisation.

“Development without planning is creating pressure on infrastructure in major urban centres. This act will help bring structure to that growth,” he said.

Bhopal Metropolitan Region will comprise areas of Bhopal, Sehore, Raisen, Vidisha and Biora (Rajgarh). Indore Metropolitan Region will comprise areas of Indore, Dewas, Ujjain, Dhar and Shajapur.

The total area of Indore Metropolitan Region (IMR) will be 9336.1 square kilometre. Indore’s total area is 3901.6 square kilometres and its cent percent area has been included in the IMR. Ujjain’s 44.99% area will be covered in the IMR followed by 29.72% of Dewas, 7.04% of Dhar and 0.54% of Shajapur.