Ranchi, Nov. 24: The state cabinet today took a decision with far-reaching impact by approving a master plan for Ranchi, which would see a mega overhaul of the capital in the coming decades.

Spread over 652.02sqkm, it envisages all 55 wards of Ranchi Municipal Corporation, 14 fringes under Ranchi Regional Development Authority and 184 village panchayats.

Arun Kumar Singh, the principal secretary of urban development department, said Ranchi's population in 2037 was projected at 31.58 lakh, with master plan prepared accordingly. Ranchi's existing population is around 13 lakh.

Hand in hand with burgeoning population, traffic is expected to rise exponentially, which is why strengthening and widening important roads have been given priority.

According to the master plan, Purulia Road leading to Albert Ekka Chowk will be 150ft wide; Kanke Road 120ft; Birsa Chowk-Khunti Road 200 feet; Booti More-Hazaribagh Road 300ft; Ring Road 200ft and Inner Circular Road 150ft, among others. Green belts flanking major arteries have also been envisaged.

Special attention has also been given to housing-for-all scheme, with 300 acres earmarked for low-cost houses. Regulations have also been amended to construct multi-storeyed buildings for low-income-group (LIG) people. Mono rails figure prominently in the master plan.

"Land will be acquired proportionally on both sides of roads for widening work. There will be no displacement. Land donors will be transferred development rights," urban development principal secretary Singh said.

Singh also said that on November 30, a meeting will be held with promoters and senior officials to discuss the state's proposed new housing policy and added that other steps to execute the master plan would be initiated soon.

Other decisions taken by the cabinet include:

• Approving the draft of MoU for operational and financial turnaround of power distribution companies under the Centre's Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY), which aims to find a permanent solution to settle financial disputes in the distribution sector.

• Redefining the dependants of government employees who have died during their service period

• Raising corpus fund of Greater Ranchi Development Authority from Rs 50 crore to Rs 500 crore; Rs 10 crore to be released this fiscal

• Approving regulations to declare certain events as state fairs (including Shravani Mela in Deoghar)

• Fixing land prices to transfer plots to RBI, NABARD, IIM, GSI, CBI, among others

• Okaying establishment of Jharkhand State Food Commission, girls' residential schools for girls in 57 blocks that lack Kasturba Gandhi cradles.