Employee flats to cost more

CHANDIGARH:Twenty days after the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to allot land to the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) for the construction of apartments for 3,930 allottees under the Self-Financing Housing Scheme-2008, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has given its nod to the Chandigarh Administration to allot land on basis of the current collector rates of the area.

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 22

Twenty days after the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to allot land to the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) for the construction of apartments for 3,930 allottees under the Self-Financing Housing Scheme-2008, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has given its nod to the Chandigarh Administration to allot land on basis of the current collector rates of the area. The MHA communication reached the UT today.

While the scheme was launched 10 years ago on a no-profit-no-loss basis and the land was to be allotted at concessional rates to the CHB, the decision of the MHA is set to enhance the rates of the flats and bring these on a par with the market prices.

The Self-Financing Housing Scheme of the CHB was launched in 2008 for which nearly 7,000 people had applied. The draw of lots for the scheme was held in November 2010. However, the scheme could not take off after the Centre expressed its inability to provide land for the project at concessional rates.

Later, some successful allottees challenged the decision to scrap the project in the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the matter is still pending with the court.

An area of 73.3 acre was earmarked for the construction of 3,930 dwelling units for employees, of which 11.8 acre was already in the possession of the CHB, while the board will now have to pay for 61.5 acre to the Administration.

Sources in the CHB said the decision of the MHA would be conveyed to the court as the CHB was the nodal agency for carrying out the project. An officer of the CHB said the land would now cost around Rs 36 crore per acre at the current collector rates, which was huge. He said if the employees were ready to pay the amount, the project would be implemented. He said other options such as constructing more flats in less area would also be explored to reduce the cost, but all this would be decided in consultation with the stakeholders.

Cost may increase by over 300%

When the scheme was launched, the cost was calculated at around Rs 13.53 lakh for a one-bedroom flat, Rs 24.30 lakh for a two-bedroom flat and Rs 34.70 lakh for a three-bedroom flat. However, after the decision of allotting land on the basis of the current collector rates, the cost of the flats is likely to increase by up to 300 per cent, which will put an additional burden on the employees.