GHAZIABAD: GDA on Monday hiked the reserve price of its commercial properties by Rs 8,700 per sqm to make up for unanticipated costs for building EWS flats.
“A proposal was tabled at a GDA Board meeting chaired by divisional commissioner Selva Kumari J and after due deliberation, it was passed,” an official said. Reserve price is the minimum price for which properties can be sold. It varies on depending on location.
The reserve price of GDA’s commercial properties in Indirapuram was Rs 1.5 lakh/sqm. After the hike, it will become Rs 1,58,700/sqm.
Similarly, in Pratap Vihar, the reserve price was Rs 48,000/sqm. This will become Rs 56,700 per sqm. In Madhuban Bapudham housing scheme, the hiked reserve price will become Rs 84,300 per sqm.
The official said prices were hiked as the authority has to raise Rs 27.1 crore, the additional cost it had to incur for construction of EWS flats in 2010.
“GDA had built 348 EWS flats in Pratap Vihar’s Sector 11 and 560 units in Rajendra Nagar’s Sector 2. As per the agreement, a portion of construction cost was to be borne by the state govt, but over the years, it escalated. It was left to GDA to meet the additional cost, which has been computed to be Rs 27.1 crore. GDA intends to recover that cost with this hike on commercial property prices,” the official added.
The authority has 31,500sqm of commercial properties yet to be sold.
On Monday, the GDA Board also passed the DPR and layout plan of Wave City that was developed as part of the state’s hi-tech township policy. The nod means around 5,000 homebuyers will be able to get their flat registries.
The official said a high-powered committee of UP govt, formed to look into the issue, had recommended on Jan 31 to approve the revised DPR. “In line with the committee’s recommendation, GDA Board approved the DPR,” the official added.
The issue dates back to 2009-10, when UP govt had notified around 8,700 acres of land along NH-9 for the hi-tech township policy. In 2017, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had raised an objection over GDA’s concessions to two developers, including Wave Group. According to its estimates, it cost the exchequer Rs 572 crore, of which Rs 401 crore was calculated as dues by the Wave Group.
Of its 4,196-acre allotment to the realtor, Wave developed half of the area and handed over possession to 12,000 homebuyers. A Wave Group spokesperson refused to comment on Tuesday, saying it has not received official communication on the issue to make a statement yet.
