Login Register
Follow Us

Employee flats to cost more

CHANDIGARH:Twenty days after the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to allot land to the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) for the construction of apartments for 3,930 allottees under the Self-Financing Housing Scheme-2008, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has given its nod to the Chandigarh Administration to allot land on basis of the current collector rates of the area.

Show comments

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service  

Chandigarh, January 22

Twenty days  after the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to allot land to the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) for the construction of apartments for 3,930 allottees under the Self-Financing Housing Scheme-2008, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has given its nod  to the  Chandigarh Administration to allot land on basis of the  current  collector rates  of the  area. The MHA communication reached the UT today.

While the scheme was launched 10 years  ago on a no-profit-no-loss basis and the land  was to be  allotted at concessional rates to the CHB, the decision of the MHA is set to  enhance  the  rates  of the flats  and bring these on a par with the market  prices.  

The  Self-Financing Housing Scheme of the CHB was launched in 2008  for which nearly 7,000 people had applied. The draw of lots for the scheme was held in November 2010. However, the scheme could not take off after the Centre expressed  its inability to provide land for the project at concessional rates. 

Later, some successful  allottees challenged  the  decision  to scrap the   project in  the Punjab and   Haryana High Court  and the matter is still pending with the court.

An area of 73.3 acre was earmarked for the construction of 3,930 dwelling units for employees, of which 11.8 acre was already in the possession of the CHB, while the  board will now have  to  pay for  61.5 acre to the Administration.

Sources  in the CHB said the decision of the  MHA would be conveyed to the court as  the  CHB was the nodal agency for carrying out the  project. An officer of the CHB said the land would now cost around  Rs  36   crore per acre at the   current collector  rates, which was huge. He said if the  employees  were ready to pay the amount, the project would be implemented. He said other options  such as constructing more flats in less  area would also  be explored to reduce the  cost, but all this would be decided in consultation with the stakeholders.    

Cost may increase by over 300%  

When the scheme was launched, the cost was calculated at around Rs 13.53 lakh for a one-bedroom flat, Rs 24.30 lakh for a two-bedroom flat and Rs 34.70 lakh for a three-bedroom flat. However, after the decision of allotting land on the basis of the current collector rates, the cost of the flats is likely to increase by up to 300 per cent, which will put an additional burden on the employees.

Show comments
Show comments

Top News

Most Read In 24 Hours