Delhi University clears Rs 5,889 crore plan to add hostel rooms for 21,895 students

Delhi University's Executive Council approved a Rs 5,889 crore plan on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, to add hostel places for 21,895 students. The plan has two parts: new hostels costing Rs 4,027 crore with room for 15,758 students, and the demolition and rebuilding of two existing hostels, Jubilee Hall and the Postgraduate Men's Hostel, at a cost of Rs 1,862 crore for 6,137 students. The proposal will now go to the Union Ministry of Education for grant-in-aid approval before construction can be funded.

For most Delhi University students from outside the city, finding a place to live is as hard as getting admission. With about 7,200 hostel beds for over 2.5 lakh students in regular courses, the vast majority rent rooms in paying-guest (PG) houses and flats around the campuses. A pre-meeting report linked the push for this plan to the collapse of a PG building in Satya Niketan, near the South Campus, which put the safety of private student housing in the spotlight.

If it is built in full, the plan would take the university from about 7,200 official hostel beds to roughly 29,000, about four times today's number. The spread of sites matters too. Instead of crowding everything into the North Campus, the new hostels are planned across the city, from Dwarka and Najafgarh in the west to Karkardooma in the east, closer to the colleges students actually attend.

There is a big condition, though. The money is not yet sanctioned. The Ministry of Education still has to approve grants, and reports note that seven earlier hostel projects at the university have been delayed by funding and construction problems. For students planning their next few years, this is a promising decision, not yet a room with a key.

Short-term: Nothing changes for current students yet. The plan moves to the Ministry of Education, and students in older hostels such as Jubilee Hall may eventually need temporary arrangements during rebuilding.

Long-term: If funded, the expansion could ease pressure on the private rental market around campuses, cut living costs for outstation students and make Delhi University more accessible to students from smaller towns.

Who is affected: Outstation students of Delhi University and their families, PG and flat owners near the campuses, residents of Jubilee Hall and the PG Men's Hostel, and the colleges near the planned sites.

Questions and Answers