No takers for LIT commercial complex

The Ludhiana Improvement Trust’s commercial complex on Rani Jhansi Road, Ghumar Mandi, is turning out to be a white elephant. Built some 18 years ago, this 2.22-acre commercial complex, constructed at a cost of approximately Rs 16 crore, has failed to find any takers. As a result, the LIT is now planning to shift its own office in this building.

Talks on to shift LIT office here

• LIT Chairman Tarsem Singh Bhinder said that talks were on to shift the LIT office to this building and if the plan is approved, then they will rent out the building of the present LIT office at Feroze Gandhi Market which will generate additional income for the Trust. “We will need two floors for our office and the plan is to give the remaining three floors to a private company which can further rent out the shops. The proposal is being prepared and will be soon sent to the government. And if it is approved, the next action will be planned,” he said.

Efforts were made for its auction in November 2009, then again in March 2013 and recently this year, as a single unit for Rs 197 crore, but it has failed to find buyers. In 2019, there was a proposal to use the basement of the building as a parking lot but it could not materialise. Even a proposed 20 per cent reduction in price to Rs 158 crore during the tenure of the previous Congress government failed to attract buyers.

Now, left with no other option, the LIT is planning to shift its own office from Feroze Gandhi market to this site.

LIT Chairman Tarsem Singh Bhinder said that talks were on to shift the LIT office to this building and if the plan is approved, then they will rent out the building of the present LIT office at Feroze Gandhi Market which will generate additional income for the Trust.

“We will need two floors for our office and the plan is to give the remaining three floors to a private company which can further rent out the shops. The proposal is being prepared and will be soon sent to the government. And if it is approved, the next action will be planned,” he said.

The paint and plaster on the façade are wearing off, floor tiles on the ground parking are coming off and the vacant area all around the complex has become a safe haven for vendors and anti-social elements.

The complex has two-level parking in lower and upper basement, coupled with surface parking on the ground floor. It has space for parking 250 cars and nearly 100 two-wheelers.

An LIT official said according to the original plan, there was provision for four banks and 14 showrooms on the ground floor. The plan was to have two food courts, two departmental stores and 11 showrooms on the first floor, 14 offices and two shops each on second, third and fourth floors. The top floor (fifth) was designed as a residential area with 10 apartments, each having three bedrooms and a carpet area of 1,796 square feet.