Undue favour to two developers cost UP Rs 572 crore: CAG report
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 22
The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) suffered a loss of Rs 772 crore, including Rs 572 crore owing to the “undue” benefit given by the UP Government to two real estate developers, who were spared the mandatory change of land use (CLU) charges.
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Objections by the Legal Department in this regard were overruled, as per the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) which was tabled during the four-day session of the state Assembly at Lucknow. Given that the CAG report is based on a ‘sample check’, the scale of the scam could be much bigger.
The report says that an undue benefit of Rs 401.30 crore was given to Uppal Chaddha Hi-tech Developers Private Ltd and of Rs 171.18 crore to Suncity Hi-tech Infra Private Ltd. “The Government of UP allowed undue benefit of Rs 572.48 crore to the two developers at the cost of the Ghaziabad Development Authority,” the CAG report reads.
“On April 23, 2010, the Housing and Urban Planning Department of Government of UP, at the request of the developers, altered the indicated land use in the Master Plan to residential and consequently no charges for conversion of land use were payable by the two developers,” the report said. The Legal Department of the Government objected, pointing out that the “non-levy of land use conversion charges would amount to ‘post-bid benefit’. This was overruled by the Principal Secretary, Legal Department”, the report says.
In May 2005, the UP Government selected two developers for High-Tech township in Ghaziabad. At that time, Master Plan-2001 was in force, according to which the land use of the area designated for the township was agricultural. In July 2005, Master Plan-2021 was approved which said the selected developers would have to pay the applicable CLU charges.
The UP Government orders issued in August 2001 too state that CLU charges are to be levied as per the circle rate fixed by the district magistrate.
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