AP notifies Common Zoning Regulations, 2026 for uniform urban planning
The Andhra Pradesh government has notified the Common Zoning Regulations, 2026, introducing a uniform, rule-based framework to regulate land use and urban development across the State, except in the capital city area.
Issued by the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Department, the regulations replace the norms notified through G.O.Ms. No. 216, dated October 22, 2025. The new framework will govern Master Plans, Zonal Development Plans, and General Town Planning Schemes throughout the State.
According to the department, the regulations aim to promote planned urban growth while ensuring public safety, environmental protection, and sustainable development. The framework also seeks to simplify urban planning by replacing multiple legacy zoning systems with a common set of regulations applicable across urban local bodies.
A key feature of the policy is the introduction of nine standard land-use categories: residential, commercial, public and semi-public, recreational, industrial, transportation, mixed-use, agricultural, and development-restricted zones.
The development-restricted category includes heritage precincts, defence establishments, water bodies, forests, hills, eco-sensitive areas, and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) areas, where development will continue to be strictly regulated.
The regulations also introduce a zone-wise “negative list” approach, under which activities may be permitted in a particular zone unless they are specifically prohibited. However, all development proposals will remain subject to applicable building rules, layout regulations, environmental norms, road-width requirements, parking standards, safety distances, and infrastructure provisions.
Officials said the negative lists are intended to prevent activities that could lead to pollution, congestion, safety hazards, or conflicts with the primary character of a zone. Accordingly, polluting industries, hazardous storage facilities, slaughterhouses, mining, waste-disposal facilities, heavy infrastructure projects, and large logistics operations will continue to be prohibited in residential areas.
Likewise, parks, open spaces, recreational zones, forests, hill areas, water bodies, heritage sites, and other environmentally sensitive locations will remain protected from incompatible development.
The regulations also permit specified non-residential activities on plots measuring at least 300 square metres and abutting existing or proposed roads with a minimum width of 60 feet, subject to payment of the prescribed impact fee and land-use charges. This provision will not apply to parks, open spaces, recreational zones, protected areas, public utilities, and other sensitive land uses.
The framework also allows regulated development in agricultural zones. White and Green category industries may be permitted, subject to Pollution Control Board norms and prescribed buffer requirements.
Farmhouses may also be permitted on agricultural land, provided the plot measures at least 0.50 acre, ground coverage does not exceed 10 per cent, and the structure is limited to ground-plus-one floor with a maximum height of 11 metres.
Officials clarified that provisions relating to road widths, setbacks, parking, industrial buffer zones, pollution safety distances, highways, and buffer areas along rivers, canals, drains, streams, and tanks will continue to be governed by the Andhra Pradesh Building Rules, 2017, and subsequent amendments. Industrial classifications prescribed by the Central and State Pollution Control Boards will also remain in force.