Meerut: The 14-lane Delhi-Meerut Expressway cut time between Meerut and Delhi in 2021. That was four years ago. Now, this high-speed link is dotted with in-your-face hoardings jutting out of sugarcane fields, inviting the commuter to NCR’s next big hotspot. Billboards holding AI-produced graphics of villas and glass-fronted apartment projects. Right next to them, promises of an easy home loan in big bold fonts. Located 80 km away from the national capital, Meerut is now closer to Delhi than ever before. Builders and contractors are selling the dream of a new prime neighbourhood as land prices hit record highs.
Meerut’s skyline today is dusty with a recurring smell of mortar in the air. There is new construction everywhere. The arrival of two big-ticket projects – first the Expressway, then the Namo Bharat RRTS corridor — has catalysed the city’s urban transformation. Despite being a major military hub and a supplier of world class sports equipment, Meerut has long carried the tag of being NCR’s ‘scruffy’ cousin. Even Ghaziabad, the district that was carved out of Meerut in 1991, manages to be one of the serious competitors in the NCR growth story. Now, Meerut finally seems to have signed up for a race of satellite cities, ready to reshape, and reinvent itself. As new high-rises redraw the skyline and malls and cafes become the preferred choice for the city’s youth, old culture of vibrant bazaars is adjusting.
According to a National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) report, land prices in Meerut have surged between 30 per cent and 67 per cent since the first leg of the metro was inaugurated in 2023. Meerut’s GDP stood at Rs 0.51 lakh crore in FY21 and is forecast to grow to Rs 2.06 lakh crore by FY27. Property dealers from Delhi-NCR are rushing in, and dealers are mushrooming across rural pockets. The Meerut Development Authority (MDA), too, is pushing ahead with Transit Oriented Development zones that focus on expanding the city.
“Not just people of Meerut, the people of NCR will be drawn to this infrastructural push. Spaces in Delhi, Gurugram, and Noida are running out. Prices are beyond the middle class’ reach,” said Meerut Development Authority vice-chairman Sanjay Kumar Meena.
The image of Meerut is people spending their days dedicatedly reading a Dainik Jagran or an Amar Ujala, indulged in pakodas, kulhads of chai, or ganne ka juice. Life in the slow lane isn’t a misnomer here. That canvas is now changing as private cars take more space on the roads. Startups like TechGropse, Accentrix Technologies, Rudhra Technologies and MSSOFTPC have opened offices here in the last few years. Delhi’s hustle is slowly moving towards Meerut.
“Infrastructure can be built overnight, but culture takes decades to shift. Meerut is developing materially, but culturally, it still lags behind metro cities,” said Alok Kumar, Head of Sociology Department at Chaudhary Charan Singh University. When a city expands rapidly, middle-class populations often struggle to adapt to new manners, etiquettes, and urban behaviours.
“Meerut’s service class is now directly connected into the global transport system — IGI and Jewar Airport, all within an hour.”
Meerut Development Authority vice-chairman Sanjay Kumar Meena outlined the vision of the city that goes beyond the existing hub. One of the visible signs is MDA’s 250-hectare township, planned near Modipuram, barely 1.25 km from the Delhi-Meerut Expressway.
“Meerut has not seen land acquisition for township since 1992,” said Meena. Nearly 30 per cent of land acquisition for the ambitious township is complete. In early August, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the project.
The project falls under TOD or Transit Oriented Development Zone. It allows mixed land use for commercial, residential and institutional purposes. This has been a boom for educational institutions as well, Meena said. Apart from this, three degree colleges are expected to come up under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK), a centrally sponsored scheme. In the last five years, IAMR Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital, NCR Institute of Medical Sciences have been established.
The MDA has earmarked a total area of 3,273 hectares under TOD. A sports university is under construction. An agricultural university has been functional. Several private hospitals are also showing interest in the TOD zone.
Currently, Meerut’s proposed township looks like a patch of farmland and dust, located inside sleepy villages. The only markers of the future are skeletal flyovers, rising abruptly, and unfinished pillars, staring at the skies.
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From fields to flats
In Basantpur Chatli, an old village in Ghaziabad surrounded by sugarcane fields, residents living in kutcha-pucca houses have turned into property dealers. The disruption came after land deal activity caught up in the neighbouring Meerut. Be it a kirana store or a mobile repair shop, everybody has a wooden desk and a plastic chair, and a wall, painted with bold letters that reads, “property ke lie call karein (Call to enquire for property related queries).”
Rahul, 35, has a well-built physique. A former wrestler, he is also known as Chhenu Pehalwan in the neighbourhood. Parents and extended family have been farmers for generations. Right next to the kirana shop he started seven years ago, he purchased a small room and started his property dealing business. This trend is visible across villages of RRTS stretch. Most chaurahas now have property dealing boards.
The property boom in the neighbourhood slowly began to alter the DNA of the local economy. Fields weren’t limited to growing crops. Land sale and purchase caught pace.
Twenty years ago, a bigha of land in Basantpur Chatrli, and nearby villages would cost Rs 3-4 lakh. Today, it costs Rs 60 lakh, due to proximity to the metro.
Outside Rahul’s shop, urbanisation is knocking. Leaning on his shop’s door, looking outside, Rahul said, “Earlier, it was all sugarcane fields. Now a metro runs over them.”
“Residents from nearby villages like Kumhera, Raoli, Manauli, Bhadoli, are also moving closer to prominent areas such as Muradnagar, Mohiuddinpur, Govindpuri, and Modinagar,” said Rahul.
According to Santosh Agarwal, Executive Director and CFO of Alpha Corp, a Delhi-based real estate developer, Meerut is being repositioned as an affordable extension of NCR. “Both big and small developers have entered the market. The demand isn’t speculative. It’s from people who want to live here.”
Builders such as Alpha Corp Meerut One, Supertech Green Village, and Sikka Krissh and Ansal have entered Meerut. Developers are testing the city with gated community projects with swimming pools, gyms, and greener spaces that are different from traditional housing setup in Meerut. Screaming NCR’s affordable housing, RERA certificates and possession timelines are displayed in bold fonts. The idea is to win trust. On Facebook and WhatsApp, drone visuals shots of project sites are shared.
Pritam Mishra, Senior Vice President, Sales, Paras Buildtech has witnessed a clear pivot in demand, from low-density housing to plotted developments, integrated gated communities, and vertical living formats.
“The RRTS corridor is no longer just a transport link but is an engine of decentralised urbanisation and a replicable model for regional housing growth across India,” he said.
And that fresh demand is coming from Delhi too.
In a cramped yet neatly arranged flat in south Delhi’s Chhatarpur, 26-year-old Varun Vats toggles between different housing apps, including a ‘Meerut Deals/Property’ group on Facebook, late into the night. For the last eight years, he has lived across Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, in rented accommodations that never felt home.
“I thought, by now, I should have started investing in a property, for my parents, and myself,” said Varun, leaning back on his newly purchased sofa inside his 3BHK apartment for which he pays a monthly rent of Rs 30,000. Most NCR properties remain out of his reach.
It’s during a conversation with one of his relatives who lives in Meerut that he realised there was something that could be in his pocket. After several calls with local brokers, he is convinced Meerut can give him a home. Prices shocked him. Rs 5,000 a square foot, half of what brokers were asking for in Delhi.
In Gurugram and Noida, high rises with trimmed lawns come with EMIs that could possibly last him a lifetime. In Ghaziabad, Varun found cheaper options that were in his budget, but, in boxed, narrow lanes, and with incomplete construction.
Land rates in Meerut have surged from Rs 8,000-Rs 12,000 per square yard to Rs 12,000-Rs 20,000 per square yard. There has been a steep appreciation in cities being connected via the corridor. Currently, only Delhi, Ghaziabad and Meerut have been connected. The next upcoming RRTS projects will connect Gurugram, Alwar, Panipat, and Karnal.
Two decades ago, Ghaziabad managed to catch hold of Delhi’s spillover, with affordable housing, high rises, and shopping malls. Later, it was connected through the Metro line. With time, Ghaziabad too grew and packed, unable to create new growth pocket.
“Ghaziabad was emerging with stronger commercial appeal while Meerut strengthens its residential attractiveness,” an NCRTC official said. It has created an urbanised network where cities complement each other rather than compete.
NCRTC Managing Director Shalabh Goel said when the Namo Bharat project was conceptualised, one of the aims was to enable polycentric development in NCR.
“We are also harnessing the potential of Transit-Oriented-Development (TOD) in the region to foster vibrant, livable communities and generate economic value that benefits the people across the spectrum.”
Citing market experts, NCRTC officials said that commercial investment is following residential development, generating local employment in service sectors and reducing external economic dependency.
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A city on the move
On a Wednesday evening, Sunil Sharma, 43, waits on the platform of Meerut South metro station—the city’s first. His black shoes are covered in dust as the dry wind sweeps across the half-open industrial stretch adjacent to the station. Sunil’s metro ride between Meerut South metro station and Anand Vihar metro stations has saved him four hours. His commute has been cut down to only 35 minutes from 2.5 hours. Earlier, he used to take packed buses to Ghaziabad with unpredictable traffic.
The first 17-km stretch of the rapid rail was inaugurated in late 2023 by PM Modi, connecting parts of Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar Duhai, and Duhai Depot. The Meerut section was inaugurated in August 2024. In January 2025, Sahibabad to New Ashok Nagar line was opened. Meerut South was Meerut’s first station to be inaugurated, among few others in the first stretch.
“I’ve seen this station being built brick by brick,” said Sunil.
The station tells a story of transition and aspiration. Young people lean against the barricades, taking selfies from inside the silver coaches. Some have picked a corner to shoot Insta reels. For a few, this is their first metro ride.
Meerut borrowed a slice of Delhi. Not too long ago, the commute in Meerut was different. When travelling to Delhi, most people would be crammed inside state government roadways buses, filled with smoke. Buses that could break down without a warning. Many boarded MEMU trains, standing shoulder to shoulder for a two-hour ride.
While inside Meerut, tempos and shared autos do their job. Cheap on the pocket but often crowded.
Out of the total planned corridor of 82 km between Modipuram Depot and Jangpura, only 55 km is operational currently, with the full development potential yet to be reaped.
Meerut South Namo Bharat station records the highest ridership, reflecting strong daily commuter traffic. The households moving to Meerut, according to the estimates of NCRTC survey, contribute Rs three-five lakh additional annually towards building the economy of the area.
A total of eight corridors have been identified, of which three corridors – Delhi to Meerut, Delhi to Alwar and Delhi to Karnal – are being taken up for development in the first phase. All the three corridors of Phase-I will converge at Sarai Kale Khan and will be interoperable, enabling commuters to travel end to end from one corridor to another without having to change trains. The Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Namo Bharat corridor is the first one to be implemented.
“Globally, it has been observed that similar regional rail projects exist as Crossrail in London, RER in Paris, and Cercanias in Spain. Once fully operational, Namo Bharat will act as the backbone of urban and regional transportation in NCR,” said the official cited above.
The Metro brings Delhi closer to Meerut not just in distance but also offers a slice of the big city. An air-conditioned spick and span coach is in absolute contrast with the decades old polluting buses the average commuter is used to. As the doors shut, Sunil unfolds the Ghaziabad edition of Nav Bharat Times, the Hindi national daily. The front page screams in bold “Vote Chori.” Stories on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Election Commission are side by side. Sunil scans the headlines. He looks out of the window.
From the rapid rail’s wide windows, Meerut’s mixed landscape is visible. LED attached hoardings, roadside dhabas and new and upcoming shopping malls. Old bazaars glow with yellow bulbs. At night, their shutters are down. The mithai shops remain open, as they do sales late till night. Restaurants like Bikanerwala and Haldirams have their billboards reaching the metro heights. While dhabas are located in smaller shops. Billboards also promote IIT-JEE coaching courses. Banquet halls are also located around the RRTS stretch, visible from the metro window.
Starting in October 2023, the Delhi-Meerut corridor’s monthly ridership has gone from 63,970 to 1,479,598 in July 2025.
For decades, Meerut’s lifeline wasn’t the structured metro station, but the restless bus stands that connected the workers of Meerut.
Sohrab Gate bus stand in Meerut is always restless. Long rows of buses, fighting for space. Conductors compete for customers honking relentlessly. They call out for passengers that are either headed towards Delhi, Muzaffarnagar, Hapur, or elsewhere, dotted around the map of western UP.
Kunwar Pal, 55, is a hospital technician. His eyes are at the entry at Sohrab Gate bus stand. He wipes his forehead as he waits for a bus to Aligarh. The wait is longer than usual. Every week, he travels to Aligarh for work.
In Phool Bagh Colony, his family lives in a 500 gaj house. Pal worked hard to send his children to Delhi, to earn a living, and eventually settle there. His son and daughter-in-law work as a manager at Vijay Sales in Gurugram. Delhi felt distant. But now, Pal’s entire journey to Gurugram is covered with the metro network.
“Earlier, reaching Delhi meant a day’s worth of travel. Pushing through crowds. Sitting in heat. Now, it’s faster, less exhausting, cheaper than bus rides,” Pal said.
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The cricket connection
If rapid rail and the expressway show Meerut’s transformation, the city’s sports industry reminds of continuity. Surajkund is one of the busiest neighbourhoods that put the city on a global map. For generations, the craftsmen have been producing cricket bats, badminton racquets, and boxing gloves. They were the driver of its economic engine for decades.
The air here is filled with sawdust from freshly carved cricket bats. The smell of fresh leather, glue, and varnish cannot be escaped. This is Meerut’s heart and business hub. Small and big shops, more than 50 years old, jostle for space.
Inside one such shop sits Viresh Kumar with rows of badminton racquets and cricket bats neatly lined up. He runs a store opened by his grandfather more than 60 years ago. The walls behind his counter, which is covered with shuttlecocks, are crowded with photos of Hindu gods and goddesses, and a sepia photograph of his grandparents. Hand painted ‘shubh laabh’ is written on every single shop. Viresh, too, has a busy day.
With Meerut coming closer to Delhi, Viresh expects businesses to rise quickly, by at least 30 per cent in the coming years. The chaos shall continue, Viresh said. “Our city will remain a hub, we’ll just witness quicker growth..”
According to the MSME Ministry and District Industrial Profile of Meerut, there are around 35,200 small and large units keeping the industry going, with at least three lakh workers working as a backbone of this industry.
In February, this year, a 16-member committee was created to bring together small scale artisans, exporters, along with government officials to support the One District One Product scheme. The industry here is also working to modernise the technology. They are adopting mechanised machinery and tools, while also preparing for export certification.
Shanky Verma, Meerut Vyapar Mandal’s metropolitan president is excited over economic growth but remains cautious.
“While the metro network will open Meerut’s doors to Delhi, vice versa, it will also open Delhi’s doors to Meerut, and the rich and influential would prefer Delhi’s markets over the city’s,” Verma said. “The labour is here, along with skill set, this is why Meerut’s sports industry thrives.”
An official in the District Industries Department who did not wish to be named, said the employment is expected to surge. Currently, the work force is comprised of 60 per cent migrant workers, many of whom stay in neighbouring districts.
“For the price of a 500 square metre industrial plot in Delhi, industrialists in Meerut are getting 4,000 square metres. Why wouldn’t industries shift?” he asked. “Those facing steep land rates in Delhi, will eventually consider Meerut their next alternative.”
But Meerut has a lot to unlearn before it rides the next wave of growth. Inaugurating the Metro service, Modi had urged the people to care for it like they would of their own cars and two-wheelers. Today, the rapid metro rail pillars have the city’s graffiti of everyday life. Faces of netas smiling wide for support stuck to the them. And “Nasha Mukti Kendra..Call Now” screams in spray painted letters, next to a peeling mobile recharge advertisement.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)