With only around 7,000 hostel seats available against tens of thousands of new undergraduate admissions every year, many are left looking for private paying guest accommodation near college clusters. DU now plans to expand its residential facilities, with its Executive Council (EC) approving projects worth Rs 5,889 crore to accommodate 21,895 students. New Delhi: For thousands of students coming to Delhi University (DU) from outside the city, securing admission does not necessarily mean getting accommodation.
In a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question in Nov 2016, the Union human resource development ministry said DU had 19 hostels with a combined capacity of 3,580 students. DU has 91 colleges, of which 69 colleges and departments participated in UG admissions in 2026. Around 71,600 students were admitted to UG courses in 2026-27, while college estimates suggest about half of DU’s students come from outside Delhi. DU has 20 main hostels across its North and South campuses, according to university officials. Another 20 colleges have hostel facilities, while 71 do not, leaving many students dependent on private accommodation.
DU plans to construct additional multistorey hostel buildings at its Dhaka Complex and has approved the reconstruction of Jubilee Hall and PG Men’s Hostel. The plan also includes boys’ and girls’ hostels at Veer Savarkar College in Roshanpura, Najafgarh, and hostels for men and women at DU’s West Campus in Dwarka, Najafgarh, and East Campus in Surajmal Vihar, Karkardooma. EC has urged colleges to prepare proposals for hostels on their premises and submit them to the funding agency. The expansion comes amid a persistent gap between student demand and available accommodation. A decade later, the challenge remains substantial.
The university was planning with the next 100 years in view, he said, noting that the circumstances in which its older hostels were built were different from those expected in the future.
Singh said the buildings had been designed keeping 21st-century requirements in mind. He also clarified that the names of the existing hostels would not change following the reconstruction. The proposed facilities will include dining halls, shops, common rooms, reading rooms and residences for wardens. With vacant land scarce within the university, each hostel block will be designed to make maximum use of the floor area ratio permitted on its campus.