After pooling fiasco, state plans to auction vacant, unutilised govt lands

Punjab’s cash-strapped government is eyeing to auction off the vacant and unutilised government lands. After its bitter experience in launching the statewide land pooling policy, this time round, the government wants to auction the properties in a phased manner.

In the first attempt, government properties in Mohali, Ludhiana and Patiala are to be auctioned, reportedly after the government has reworked and re-evaluated the price at which these properties are to be auctioned off.

Meetings have already been held to work out the modalities to auction off these vacant lands and rake in the much-needed moolah. Two meetings, to identify such properties and “plan for the unutilised and under-utilised land parcels” in Ludhiana and Patiala, were held on October 1 in Chandigarh.

The Tribune has learnt that other than the Health Minister and Industry Minister, officials of the Local Government, Power, Water Resources, Sports and Youth Services, Housing, Health and Public Works Department and the Punjab Development Commission were present at both meetings, where officials were told to conduct fresh surveys of these properties and prepare a list by mid-October.

While Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh and Patiala Deputy Commissioner were present at the meeting held for Patiala, Industry Minister Sanjeev Arora and Ludhiana DC were present at the meeting held for deciding on utilising the vacant government properties in Ludhiana.

An official source said most of these properties had been lying unutilised for decades and those where construction was done by the department concerned, before these could be auctioned, were now in ruins. “We have found that the reserve price kept for these properties is too high, much higher than the market assessment. As a result, these could not be auctioned in the past. We want to bring the reserve prices of these properties at par with the market rates in order to get bidders for competitive auctions,” he said.

It is learnt that discussions were held regarding the use of the land of the Old Bus Stand in Patiala, properties of the PSPCL, spread over 55 acres near 23 Number Phatak, a sports stadium and flats constructed for the PSPCL employees, among others.

For Ludhiana, discussions were held on the 40 properties of the PSPCL, located on the GT road, and in Power Colony at Sarabha Nagar, besides the long-pending auction of Ludhiana City Centre and land parcels opposite the district administration complex.

Meanwhile, various unions of the PSPCL employees have opposed the move to auction the properties of the power utility. Jasvir Singh Dhiman, president of the PSEB Engineers Association said the Punjab Government should immediately stop the process of making the list of the Powercom properties for possible sale, but instead the PSPCL properties should be used only for the expansion of our own future projects.