UP Development Authorities Complete Guide 2026: GDA, LDA, JDA, ADA, MDA, and 20+ Others Explained

Uttar Pradesh has more urban Development Authorities than any other Indian state — covering roughly 27 cities, each with its own jurisdiction, master plan, plot schemes, and housing inventory. For any buyer considering a UP property — whether a new apartment, a government-allotment plot, an auction scheme, or a resale flat — the relevant Development Authority is part of the transaction regardless of who the immediate seller is.

This guide maps every major UP Development Authority, what each one does, and how to verify any authority-linked property on the official portal and on ReraTracker.

What Is a Development Authority?

A Development Authority (Vikas Pradhikaran) is a statutory body created under the Uttar Pradesh Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973. Each authority has jurisdiction over a defined urban development area — typically a city and its peri-urban growth zones — with powers to:

Prepare and enforce the Master Plan (zoning, land use, density norms)
Acquire land through consent / compensation under state/central acquisition acts
Allot plots and housing through direct allotment, auction, or lottery
Approve building plans and issue occupancy / completion certificates
Develop infrastructure — roads, drainage, water, sewerage
Regulate private developers operating within the jurisdiction

When a buyer purchases from an authority directly (allotment, auction, scheme), the authority is the seller. When a buyer purchases from a private developer within the authority’s jurisdiction, the authority is still involved — every building plan sanction, every possession-linked approval, every completion certificate passes through them.

The Full List of UP Development Authorities

UP has 27 statutory Development Authorities. The biggest by geographic coverage and project volume:

Tier 1 — Highest Volume + Most Active Schemes

Authority	Acronym	City / Jurisdiction	Website
Ghaziabad Development Authority	GDA	Ghaziabad, Loni, Modinagar, Muradnagar	gdaghaziabad.in
Lucknow Development Authority	LDA	Lucknow + surrounding growth	ldalucknow.org
Noida Authority (NOIDA)	—	Gautam Buddha Nagar	noidaauthorityonline.in
Greater Noida Authority (GNIDA)	—	Greater Noida	greaternoidaauthority.in
Yamuna Expressway Authority (YEIDA)	YEIDA	Jewar + Yamuna Expressway zone	yamunaexpresswayauthority.com
Kanpur Development Authority	KDA	Kanpur Nagar	kdaonline.up.nic.in
Varanasi Development Authority	VDA	Varanasi	vdavns.com

Tier 2 — Regional Authorities with Active Plot / Housing Inventory

Authority	Acronym	City / Jurisdiction
Agra Development Authority	ADA	Agra
Moradabad Development Authority	MDA	Moradabad
Jhansi Development Authority	JDA	Jhansi
Gorakhpur Development Authority	GDA (Gkp)	Gorakhpur
Bareilly Development Authority	BDA	Bareilly
Aligarh Development Authority	ADA (Aligarh)	Aligarh
Saharanpur Development Authority	SDA	Saharanpur
Meerut Development Authority	MDA (Meerut)	Meerut
Mathura-Vrindavan Development Authority	MVDA	Mathura + Vrindavan
Faizabad-Ayodhya Development Authority	AyDA	Ayodhya
Allahabad (Prayagraj) Development Authority	PDA	Prayagraj

Tier 3 — Smaller Regional Authorities

Hapur-Pilkhuwa Development Authority, Khurja Development Authority, Rampur Development Authority, Banda Development Authority, Basti Development Authority, Bulandshahr-Khurja Development Authority, Chitrakoot Development Authority, Fatehpur Development Authority, Gonda-Balrampur Development Authority, Muzaffarnagar Development Authority, Shahjahanpur Development Authority, Sitapur-Hardoi Development Authority — each covers a smaller urban growth area.

Authority Project Types

Each Development Authority runs one or more of these inventory types:

1. Residential Plot Schemes

Direct allotment of residential plots to individual buyers through registration + lottery. Recent examples:

YEIDA Plot Scheme (Yamuna Expressway — Jewar-adjacent plots, high-volume)
GDA Madhuban Bapudham (Ghaziabad)
LDA Anant Nagar Yojna (Lucknow — multiple phases)
JDA Manniya Mukhyamantri Shehari Vistarikaran Yojana (Jhansi)
MDA Govindpuram Housing Scheme (Moradabad)

Plot schemes are priced at regulated rates (below market), often with subsidies for EWS / LIG categories. Application windows are announced, applicants register with earnest money, and a lottery determines allotment. Refunds are issued to non-allottees.

Why buyers love them: regulated pricing, clean title (authority-backed), transparent allocation.

Due diligence still required: plot handover timelines, development status of the scheme area, connectivity, and authority dues must be verified on the authority’s portal and cross-checked via ReraTracker’s indexed authority projects.

2. Group Housing / Apartment Schemes

Authority-developed apartment projects sold to the public. These run on the Development Authority’s own balance sheet (unlike private developer projects). Examples:

LDA Apartments (multiple Lucknow schemes)
GDA EWS/LIG Group Housing (Nandgram, Indirapuram Extensions)
ADA Atalpuram (Agra)
GorakhpurDA Raptinagar Vistar Township

3. Commercial Plot / Shop Auctions

Commercial sector plots, ground-floor shops, SCO (Shop-cum-Office) units, and mall development plots are auctioned. Examples:

JDA Commercial Plot Auctions (Jhansi — recurring)
GDA SCO Sector Auctions
Noida Authority Commercial Auctions

4. Industrial / IT Plots

Via UPSIDC or the authority itself — usually separate from residential.

5. Allotment to Private Developers (Group Housing Schemes)

When a Development Authority owns land but the project is developed by a private builder, the authority’s name remains on the allotment. The private developer is the promoter under RERA. This is the most common structure for large private projects in NCR UP. Example: many Noida / Greater Noida / Yamuna Authority private projects are on authority-allotted land.

How Authority Projects Appear on ReraTracker

Every UP Development Authority project — whether authority-developed or private-developer-on-authority-land — that is RERA-registered shows up on ReraTracker with complete data: authority name, allotment details, permits, khasra numbers, RERA registration, construction progress, and drone footage.

Direct authority pages index major ongoing schemes:

Raptinagar Vistar Township — GorakhpurDA — high-volume Gorakhpur scheme
Govindpuram Housing Scheme — MoradabadDA — Moradabad
Anant Nagar Yojna (multiple phases) — LDA — Lucknow
Narmada Apartment — LDA — Lucknow
Atalpuram Phase 2 + 3 — ADA — Agra
Manniya Mukhyamantri Scheme — JDA — Jhansi
170 Nos Plots Sector 10 Siddharth Vihar — UPAVP — Ghaziabad
KDA Residency Kidwai Nagar — KDA — Kanpur

(Exact URLs vary by project — search on reratracker.com by authority name or project name.)

How to Verify an Authority Allotment Before You Buy

Whether the allotment letter comes from GDA, LDA, JDA, or any other authority, the verification steps are the same:

1. Confirm the allotment letter is genuine

Each authority’s portal has an “allotment verification” section. Enter the allotment number and applicant name — the portal should confirm the record. An allotment letter that does not verify on the portal is a red flag.

2. Pull the specific khasra numbers

Every authority allotment references specific khasra numbers in the revenue records. Pull those khasras on upbhulekh.gov.in — confirm the authority is recorded as the land holder. For our Bhulekh UP walkthrough.

3. Check authority dues

Some authority plots have pending lease rent, maintenance, or authority-due charges. The seller (the outgoing allottee) may not have cleared these. Pending dues become the buyer’s liability after purchase. Check on the authority portal before final payment.

4. For resale of authority plots

If you are buying from someone who was originally allotted the plot (a “resale” of an authority allotment), the authority’s transfer rules apply. Each authority has different rules on:

Whether transfer is permitted and after how many years
Transfer fee (often a percentage of circle rate)
NOC requirements (often requires authority NOC before registration)

Skipping the NOC means the registered deed is valid but the authority can still refuse mutation — leaving the buyer with a title that cannot be freely sold again.

5. For private-developer projects on authority land

Apart from the authority due diligence, full RERA due diligence applies. See our How to Check RERA Registration in India for the walkthrough.

GDA, LDA, JDA, ADA, MDA — Top Authority-Level FAQs

What is GDA (Ghaziabad Development Authority) known for?

GDA covers Ghaziabad including Indirapuram, Vaishali, Kaushambi, Raj Nagar Extension, and the peri-urban Loni / Modinagar growth corridor. Active schemes include EWS / LIG housing schemes, plot schemes in Siddharth Vihar, and regulated private developer projects across Ghaziabad sectors.

What does LDA do?

LDA runs some of UP’s largest plot schemes — Anant Nagar Yojna (multiple phases across Akash Khand, Adarsh Khand), Basant Kunj Yojna, and a large portfolio of LDA Apartments. It is also the sanctioning authority for all private residential / commercial projects in Lucknow.

JDA Jhansi — is it worth participating in JDA schemes?

JDA runs smaller but well-subscribed plot schemes including Transport Nagar Yojna and the Manniya Mukhyamantri Shehari Vistarikaran Yojana. JDA plots are among UP’s most affordable authority plots — pricing typically 40–60% below adjacent Delhi-NCR belt pricing for similar plot sizes.

ADA Agra

Agra Development Authority’s Atalpuram series (Phases 1, 2, 3, 4) has been one of the most successful Tier-2 authority plot schemes in UP, with transparent lottery, strong development progress, and robust resale potential.

MDA Moradabad

Moradabad Development Authority’s Govindpuram Housing Scheme (Phase 1 onward) and associated commercial development have been active anchors for the Moradabad property market.

The Three Documents to Demand Before Any Authority Transaction

Authority Allotment Letter (verify on the authority’s portal)
Khasra extract / khatauni from upbhulekh.gov.in showing the authority as landholder
For RERA-registered projects: the RERA registration certificate and project page on reratracker.com

Without these three, no authority-linked purchase is safe.

For the foundational land-records walkthrough, see our Bhulekh UP 2026 Guide and Khasra Number Explained. For the YEIDA-specific plot scheme walkthrough, see the YEIDA Plot Scheme 2026 Complete Guide.