Bill Laid in Assam Assembly for Guwahati Satellite City Development Authority

It will deal with the development of townships and satellite cities

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The Assam government today laid the Guwahati Satellite City Development Authority (GSCDA) Bill, 2026, in the state Assembly. The object of the authority is to promote and secure the development of notified townships or satellite cities.

Laying out the bill, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Kaushik Rai said that the state is witnessing unprecedented rapid urbanisation and population growth, thereby increasing exponential pressure on existing urban centres, particularly in and around the municipal limits of Guwahati. The growing need for housing, businesses, schools, healthcare, and government services in these urban areas has put a strain on current infrastructure, harmed natural resources, and created regulatory problems, including informal settlements in a specific area.

The bill said, "There is a need to explore, strategise and establish new avenues of economic growth capable of attracting fresh investment and generating employment in a sustained and scalable way. Currently, multiple government agencies are responsible for managing township development, planning, and execution within the state. Currently, multiple government agencies are responsible for township development, planning, and execution within the state, which leads to overlaps in decision-making. Therefore, to efficiently address the identified needs and challenges, it is proposed to establish a dedicated centralised institution responsible for identifying future urban growth corridors, consolidating contiguous lands (particularly those earmarked for planning), developing satellite cities, integrating transport, housing, and economic infrastructure with existing civil infrastructure, and raising and deploying funds while encouraging private investment to achieve the aforementioned goals. The GSCDA, concerned and established, will be a specialized institution to empower and provide strategic direction, integrated planning and efficient execution. Therefore, we propose to establish the GSCDA as a development authority through duly enacted legislation. We propose that a development authority, specifically the GSCDA, be established through duly enacted legislation. The state government will notify the areas under the GSCDA's purview from time to time. The bill aims to declare satellite city development areas in the Kamrup Metro district and any other districts that the government may notify in the future.

The proposed GSCDA will comprise the chief minister as the chairman, the minister of housing and urban affairs as the vice chairman, and the chief secretary as a member. The GSCDA will have the first right to alienate government land within the designated satellite cities, and any land required by the GSCDA shall be transferred to the Satellite City Development Land Bank.

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