Realty push: PUDA to e-auction Rs 2K-crore properties across Punjab

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 27

The realty scene in Punjab’s megacities is set to hot up with Punjab Urban Housing Department (PUDA) all set to put under the hammer properties worth Rs 2,000 crore across the state from August 29 to September-end.

NIC’s security concerns

• The NIC report had highlighted that while security audits of government websites were to be carried out every year, PUDA’s website, which hosted e-auctions of properties, had not undertaken it since 2017. After the NIC flagged the issue, the Chief Secretary asked officials to take corrective measures
• Besides GMADA, the PUDA website had also been hosting e-auctions of the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority, Patiala Development Authority, Jalandhar Development Authority and Amritsar Development Authority

The e-auction of the properties will happen a year after the National Informatics Centre (NIC) flagged the security chinks in the department’s portal, resulting in Chief Secretary Anurag Verma directing the department to take corrective measures before proceeding further.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who holds the additional charge of the housing department, has directed officials to auction the properties so that the department could bear the cost of land acquisition and infrastructure development.

Confirming the development, a senior government functionary said to ensure that there was no security lapse, the department had tied up with Railtel Corporation of India — the agency that has been conducting auctions of various government departments — to conduct the e-auction. As per government instructions, all e-auctions can be conducted only on a platform/system certified to be fully secure by the NIC as well as the Department of Governance Reforms.

The commercial, group housing and residential properties in urban estates of Mohali (Rs 1242 crore), Bathinda (Rs 82 crore), Ludhiana (Rs 170 crore), Jalandhar ( Rs 250 crore), and Patiala ( Rs 175 crore) are being auctioned. “Depending upon the response, the properties could attract a much higher price,” said the government functionary. The properties do not include those listed under the Optimum Utilisation of Vacant Government Lands (OUVGL) scheme in the state.