Indian Bureaucracy News, Lucknow, February 05, 2026 | Uttar Pradesh weighs fresh OTS window to clear pending housing dues, unlock stalled projects.
The Uttar Pradesh Housing and Urban Planning Department is preparing to introduce a new One-Time Settlement (OTS) scheme aimed at resolving long-pending residential and commercial allotment disputes and recovering outstanding dues across urban housing agencies. More than 6,000 allottees of the Uttar Pradesh Housing & Development Board — also known as the Uttar Pradesh Awas Evam Vikas Parishad (UPAVP) — and the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) in Lucknow are expected to benefit, with projected recoveries exceeding ₹3,000 crore.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, during a departmental review, noted that prolonged dues and unresolved disputes have slowed project execution and created avoidable hardship for citizens. He called for a time-bound, transparent settlement framework that balances institutional financial stability with relief for genuine allottees. Senior officials, including Dr Balkar Singh IAS (UP 2004), Housing Commissioner, Uttar Pradesh; Director, Nagar Bhumi Simaropan; and Secretary, Housing & Urban Planning Department, are overseeing preparations for the proposed framework.
Officials said the scheme would cover beneficiaries ranging from Economically Weaker Section (EWS) applicants to large defaulters. Pending cases have accumulated over several years due to financial constraints, litigation and administrative delays. The government expects that a structured settlement window could unlock stalled allotments, regularise long-pending dues and accelerate housing and commercial project completion. The proposal builds on the earlier OTS-2020 initiative, which resolved a large number of disputes, although some allottees were unable to complete final payments during the COVID-19 disruptions.
Preliminary estimates indicate that Lucknow alone has around 2,000 defaulters across income segments, with potential recoveries ranging between ₹1,000 crore and ₹1,500 crore. Smt Pallavi Mishra PCS, Deputy Housing Commissioner, said the Uttar Pradesh Housing & Development Board (UPAVP) has approximately 5,000 to 6,000 defaulters across categories, with potential recoveries of about ₹1,500 crore. A detailed assessment of dues and beneficiaries will follow formal notification of the scheme.
Established in 1966 under the Uttar Pradesh Avas Evam Vikas Parishad Adhiniyam, 1965, the Uttar Pradesh Housing & Development Board — commonly referred to as UPAVP — functions as an autonomous nodal agency responsible for planned housing development, township planning and infrastructure creation across the State. Operating under the Housing and Urban Planning Department, it undertakes land development, affordable housing delivery and provision of civic infrastructure such as roads, utilities and public amenities in line with approved master plans.Tthe Department is currently headed by Shri Sri P Guruprasad IAS (UP 1999 ) as the Chairman of the Board and Dr Balkar Singh IAS (UP 2004 ) as the Housing Commissioner.
Alongside settlement measures, the Board has pursued revenue generation and asset optimisation through property sales and project restructuring. Its first-come-first-served scheme for ready-to-move flats in cities including Lucknow, Ghaziabad and Kanpur has generated over ₹1,000 crore by early February 2026, with more than 2,100 units booked. The Board currently manages infrastructure and construction projects valued at over ₹333 crore, while development authorities and the Board together have invested nearly ₹3,000 crore in civil and construction works across the State.
Board decisions taken at a meeting on December 26, 2025 reflect a broader administrative push to streamline urban development. These include in-principle approval to complete 240 stalled flats in Lucknow’s Arawali Enclave high-rise project, leasing of a football ground in Vikas Nagar to enhance commercial utilisation, and plans to invite private participation for parking infrastructure. Measures to improve revenue realisation include e-auctions for institutional plots and revised policies to attract large firms to IT City developments. New township proposals in Mau, Ghazipur, Pratapgarh and Banda, as well as initiatives to address residential land shortages in Kanpur and resolve long-pending allotment issues in Ghaziabad’s Siddharth Vihar scheme, form part of a wider strategy to expand housing supply and monetise public assets.
Officials said the proposed OTS framework is intended to complement these structural reforms by clearing legacy dues, reducing litigation and improving cash flows for public housing bodies. The government expects that resolving old disputes while advancing new urban projects will strengthen institutional finances and support more predictable delivery of housing infrastructure and services across Uttar Pradesh’s rapidly growing urban centres.