According to NCRPB officials, a private consultancy firm, which is carrying out a study in this regard, has already tabled its preliminary report and final report is expected before the board sits down for its review meeting in April 2008.

Dehradun and Rishikesh in Uttarakhand, Aligarh, Agra and Mathura in Uttar Pradesh and Bhiwani and Karnal in Haryana are some of the towns that may be included in the list of countermagnet areas to the NCR.

There are currently five counter-magnetic towns - Patiala, Hissar, Kota, Gwalior and Bareilly -where the NCRPB has funded infrastructural projects under its regional plan.

According to senior NCRPB officials, the number of countermagnet towns was kept restricted to five due to general financial constraints and need for proper synchronisationof development programmes in the priority towns of the NCR in regional Plan 2001, which came into effect in January 1989.

However, with Rs 11,000 crore set aside in the 11th five year plan for the development of the NCR, the board is now in a better stage to fund more development projects to "achieve the goals of NCR regional plan".