Meharchand Market (or Mehar Chand) is a retail hub in Lodhi Colony,

South Delhi South Delhi is an administrative district of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India with its headquarters in Saket. Administratively, the district is divided into three subdivisions, Saket, Hauz Khas, and Mehrauli. It is bounded by ...

. The market is a shopping hub known for its

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exper ...

stores,

cafes A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargile ...

, and

street art Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant gr ...

. Meharchand Market was established in 1948 as a

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

market and was renamed in 1962 after the then-

Union Minister The Union Council of Ministers is the Cabinet (government), principal executive organ of the Government of India, which serves to aid and advise the President of India in execution of their functions.Article 74 of the ''Constitution of India' ...

Mehr Chand Khanna Mehr Chand Khanna (1 June 1897 – 20 July 1970) was an Indian politician who served as the Union Minister for Rehabilitation from 1954 to 1962. He served as the Law Minister from 1954 to 1957. He was the first Rehabilitation Minister of the Gov ...

. In 2018, illegal constructions by shopkeepers led to shop closures. This eventually resulted in a 2020 redevelopment plan that allows multi-story structures. By 2022, sealed shops began reopening and redevelopment is still ongoing as of 2024.

History

Meharchand Market was initially established in 1948 as a

market, when 240 makeshift shops were allocated to refugees who had fled Pakistan after the

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

in 1947. In 1962, the market was renamed as Meharchand Market after the then-

for Rehabilitation,

. After its establishment and renaming, Meharchand Market became known for its

tailoring A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

shops and tent houses. By the mid 2010s, Meharchand Market was known as an upscale and trendy shopping area. However, by 2018, many of the markets' shops were sealed by a

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

-appointed committee as shopkeepers had illegally built more space for their shops, leaving only the ground floors compliant with the market's original plan. In 2020, a redevelopment scheme for Meharchand Market was approved by the then-

South Delhi Municipal Corporation South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) was one of the municipal corporations in Delhi, India, that was established after the former Municipal Corporation of Delhi was trifurcated in 2012. It governed over a jurisdiction spanning , which was ...

, which would allow a 90% ground coverage with a 350 floor area ratio. This would allow shopkeeper build a basement, ground, first and second floors. In 2022, the sealed shops began to be unsealed by the Municipal Council of Delhi after approval from the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee. As of 2024, the redevelopment Maherchand Market is still ongoing.

Overview

Meharchand Market is noted as a shopping hub. Shops in the market include

stores,

, jewellery shops and salons. The market has also become known for its

and

murals A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

Location

Meharchand Market is located in Lodhi Colony and on the on the edge of

Lutyens' Delhi Lutyens' Delhi is an area in New Delhi, India, named after the British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, Edwin Lutyens (1869–1944), who was entrusted with the vast majority of the architectural design and buildings of the city that subsequently e ...

. The market comes under the area of

References

{{Reflist 1962 establishments in Delhi Retail markets in Delhi Shopping districts and streets in India Markets in India Retail markets in India