Delhi is all set to get its first fully automatic multi-level car parking lot, with Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath slated to inaugurate the facility at Sarojini Nagar Market on Thursday. Union Sports Minister Ajay Maken and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit will be present at the opening. Developed by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) under public-private partnership with real estate developers DLF Limited for a concession period of 30 years, parking arrangements will be made through “zero human intervention” after the driver leaves his car at the basement level. While DLF will offer free parking space to shoppers at Sarojini Nagar Market for the first 20 days, as part of a real-time trial of the fully automated system, it will start charging Rs 10 per hour thereafter. DLF is letting out commercial space at Rs 500 per square feet. Under the PPP model, the land in Sarojini Nagar was provided free of cost by the NDMC and the investment for development of the eight-floor structure — Rs 85 crore — was made by DLF. While the ground floor and the first level of the building will provide space for retail and food joints, the basement as well as the rest of the building — from the second floor to the eighth floor — will be reserved for parking. “At the basement is the arrival concourse, where drivers can leave their cars on a pallet after taking a smart card, complete with car and driver information, from the ticket counter. Cameras will automatically capture the car’s number plate,” a DLF spokesperson told Newsline. Once on the pallet, the car is circulated on the six-car transfer bays to be taken to one of the eight lifts, and then carried onto one of the parking floors. “The decisions are made by an algorithm-based software. It is a conveyor belt-like system wherein cars keep moving through the system,” the official said. When the driver returns to get his car, he will have to present his smart card at the retrieval room on the basement level. The car would be delivered to him within three minutes of feeding information into the system. The NDMC said the system has 100 per cent power back-up, and all systems, lifts and pallets are independently synchronised to deal with any eventuality. “So, in case one part of the fully automated system is spoilt, it will not affect the functioning of the entire parking lot. All lifts and transfer bays are independently synchronised,” a senior official said. NDMC secretary Santosh Vaidya said: “The same model, with commercial and parking space, will be replicated at the multi-level car park coming up near Khan Market. The Baba Kharak Singh Marg complex, on the other hand, would offer parking and office space.”