Mandi board starts auctioning commercial sites for revenue
Pushed to the wall with the stopping of Rural Development Fund (RDF), the Punjab Mandi Board has started auctioning its unutilised properties to raise money. Around 12,000 properties, including fuel station sites, ATM sites and built-up shops, in mandis across the state are being auctioned now.
The income so generated will not only be used for building and repairing rural infrastructure, but also for repaying old loans taken by the previous governments.
It is learnt that the auctioning of properties was started last month and the board has managed to raise Rs 60 crore so far. By the end of this financial year, the board is hopeful of raising Rs 250 crore through such auctions.
The decision to auction properties was taken last year. CM Bhagwant Mann had given the go-ahead to the board to raise money. The board has been facing a financial crisis as Rs 7,200 crore RDF dues have not been released by the Centre. In 2023 and 2024, the board, which was once cash-rich, struggled to pay instalments of loans raised by the previous Congress government to fund the farm debt waiver scheme.
With no early resolution to the RDF issue in sight, the board last year decided to auction its unutilised properties. The proceeds thus earned would be spent on building, repair and maintenance of rural infrastructure, especially the rural link roads that have not been repaired for years now.
“We have been making efforts for ensuring regular income for the board. Kisan Bhawan at Chandigarh and Kisan Haveli at Anandpur Sahib have been redone and room tariffs increased marginally. The board is getting regular income from there. The next step is to lease out commercial sites to generate income. We have cleared most of the loans taken by previous governments and only Rs 500-crore liability stands, which will also be cleared soon,” said Punjab Mandi Board Chairman Harchand Singh Barsat. On Thursday, they leased out 16 fuel station sites for annual lease of Rs 7.01 crore, he said.
The board has identified 108 sites for fuel station, to be leased for 19 years and 11 months. By the end of March, the board expects to lease out 30 more sites. These sites have not been auctioned since 2018.
