Urban Study in India has thick literature, broadly encompass the multiple reasons for rapid migration and challenges in the cities. However, there is very thin literature available in the public domain which dealt with the interface of social justice, the role of institution and development projects. The ongoing challenges of urban development have its imprints on politics and planning of development projects. Urban development projects are argued to take forward the issues of the marginalized and disadvantaged communities. However, UN data suffice that disparity is prevalent in the cities, and it needs to be addressed effectively. The study takes the central theme of social justice for investigating urban poverty and identifying politics of different stakeholders, e.g. political parties, government institutions, and non-government organizations. It analyzes the core agenda of major urban development programs JNNURM, AMRUT, and Smart Cities Mission with the perspective of just city concept. The article concludes that different development projects promising change and transforming the city are vague and fuzzy. Overlapping objectives of these projects make it susceptible to failure because it undermines the aspiration of the poor and marginalized section, and ignore the theme of justice, i.e. procedural justice, justice of capabilities, distributive justice and justice of recognition.