2 min readNew DelhiJul 24, 2026 04:07 AM IST
The government on Thursday bifurcated the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, creating the Department of Capital Development to focus on Delhi and the Department of Urban Development for national schemes.
The Cabinet Secretariat published the gazette notification of the amendment to the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961, creating the two new departments.
Till now, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs did not have separate departments.
Late on Thursday night, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet appointed Gujarat cadre IAS officer D Thara, who had been Additional Secretary in MoHUA, as the Secretary of the Department of Capital Development and Jharkhand cadre IAS officer Satendra Singh, who was Additional Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, as Secretary of the Department of Urban Development.
Incidentally, Singh, in his capacity as Additional Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, signed the gazette notification creating the two departments earlier in the day.
The Department of Capital Development will look after Union government properties, Central Public Works Department, Delhi Development Authority, allotment of government land in Delhi, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and the National Capital Region Transport Corporation, among the 25 subjects allotted to it.
On the other hand, the Department of Urban Development will look after all national schemes, including Swachh Bharat Mission, Urban Challenge Fund, PMSvanidhi and AMRUT.
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The department will also oversee “climate and climate adaptation”. While creating two new departments, the amendment also removed one subject that had been allotted to the Ministry — “stationery and printing for the Government of India including official publications”, which was given to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The Indian Express had reported in May that the government was considering creating two separate departments, including one for Delhi, to be headed by separate secretaries.