Amid fund crunch, Punjab Govt seeks Rs 1,000 crore from GMADA

The state government has sought Rs 1,000 crore from the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), a major housing development authority under the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to help address its ongoing financial crisis.

In the recent months, the government has borrowed over Rs 2,500 crore from the department to meet its fiscal needs, with a senior official claiming the practice was followed by previous governments as well.

Funds are being raised using the overdraft facility against GMADA’s vacant properties. There is also a proposal to amend the Punjab Regional Town Planning and Development (PRTPD) Act, 1995, to incorporate a provision of sharing with the government proceeds from property auctions or other income generated by the housing development authorities. The amendment aims at facilitating the transfer of revenue from land, buildings and other assets sold by these authorities.

The state government has instructed all housing development authorities to submit an inventory of properties available for auction, including residential, commercial and industrial sites. Across the eight authorities (Mohali, Amritsar, Bathinda, Patiala, Jalandhar, Anandpur Sahib (Urban) and Dera Baba Nanak), the combined inventory is valued at over Rs 30,000 crore, with GMADA alone accounting for nearly Rs 24,000 crore.

Nearly half of the properties transferred to the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) under the optimum utilisation of vacant government land (OUVGL) scheme during the previous SAD-BJP government remain unsold. At that time, the government secured a Rs 2,000-crore loan by mortgaging these properties, and PUDA is currently working to auction these after developing.

Employees of the development authorities have raised concerns, emphasising that revenue from property sales should be used for local development and infrastructure upgrades within the respective authority areas.