Security features will include automated locking systems, X-ray baggage scanners, full-body scanners, and body-worn cameras for prison personnel
Work is expected to begin later this year on Delhi’s first high-security prison, a modern correctional facility designed to reduce the chronic overcrowding in the city’s jails. The prison, to be constructed on an 11-acre site in Narela, will house 250 high-risk inmates and feature advanced surveillance, security, and isolation systems. According to Public Works Department officials, the facility will follow a panopticon-style design, inspired by the British-era Cellular Jail in the Andaman Islands. Cells will be arranged in a radial pattern with wings extending from a central watchtower, allowing guards to monitor inmates without being seen — a psychological deterrent intended to curb violence and prevent gang formation.
Security features will include automated locking systems, X-ray baggage scanners, full-body scanners, and body-worn cameras for prison personnel. Inmate cells will be designed to restrict interaction, especially among high-risk individuals, with a focus on physical isolation to limit organised criminal activity. Signal jammers will prevent unauthorised communications, and high perimeter walls will be constructed to deter the smuggling of contraband such as narcotics and mobile phones. “The idea is to create a controlled, secure environment that cannot be compromised,” a senior official said, adding that the safety of jail staff and visiting families remains a top priority.
The project has been allocated a preliminary budget of ₹148.58 crore, with a revised estimate currently under review by the Expenditure Finance Committee. Although an initial tender failed to attract bidders, officials have since revised the financial terms and are preparing to re-float the proposal. In its second phase, the project will incorporate staff residential quarters and a dedicated training centre to enhance operational readiness and emergency response.
The new facility is expected to ease pressure on Delhi’s existing prisons — Tihar, Mandoli and Rohini — which together are meant to accommodate 10,000 inmates but are currently holding nearly double that number. The Narela complex is being viewed as a crucial step in the modernisation of India’s prison infrastructure, with officials expressing hope that it will serve as a model for secure, humane and reform-oriented incarceration.
