Marriage palaces: Owners say CLU, EDC rates higher compared to other cities

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 4

Even as the marriage palace owners have got big relaxations in the new policy for the regularisation of the palaces, the owners of Jalandhar are still not satisfied.

Claiming that the change of land use (CLU) and external development charges (EDC) were still very high for Jalandhar compared to other cities, including Amritsar and Patiala, the association members from the district are planning to meet Finance Minister Manpreet Badal in this regard in a week or so.

Members of the Marriage Palace Owners Association from Jalandhar are ruing that while the total charges (including CLU, and EDC and permission fee) being levied from the owners in Jalandhar are Rs 40 lakh per acre on a scheduled road, the same are half at Rs 20 lakh per acre in Amritsar and Patiala. Even on unscheduled roads, the charges in Jalandhar are Rs 28 lakh per acre, while in Amritsar and Patiala the owners have to pay just Rs 15 lakh.

The president of the association Ranbir Tutt said, “The charges are far too high. How can the rates be double in Jalandhar compared to Amritsar? The palace owners here are upset as the long fight over the matter has again landed us nowhere. A person who owns a palace on Talhan Road in Jalandhar will have to pay Rs 28 lakh per acre for the regularisation of his palace, which is quite an unreasonable amount going by the land prices there.”

As per the break-up, the EDC charges are Rs 9 lakh in Jalandhar and Rs 3.75 lakh in Amritsar and Patiala. The CLU charges in Jalandhar for a palace on scheduled rate are Rs 28 lakh, while the corresponding charges in Amritsar and Patiala are Rs 15 lakh. The same charges on unscheduled road in Jalandhar are Rs 16 lakh vis-a-vis Rs 10 lakh in Amritsar and Patiala.

The big relaxations given are:

There shall be 100 per cent exemption of the CLU, EDC, PF etc on the entire parking area of the marriage palaces. Earlier, the charges were also levied on the entire area of the marriage palace.

The upfront payment of charges has been reduced from 25 to 15 per cent and the balance payment is to be made in six equal monthly instalments without any interest.

The condition of the minimum road width within the master plan areas has also been slashed depending on the total area of the marriage palaces.