Auction of LIT’s prime site at Model Town Ext cancelled

Harshraj Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 11

Amid row over the Ludhiana Improvement Trust’s prime land’s auction at “throwaway prices”, the department of Local Government has cancelled the auction of the site measuring 16,344 sq yards located at Model Town Extension.

Take a decision on selling site, trust told

The Department of Local Government has also directed the Ludhiana Improvement Trust to take a decision whether it will have to sell the site at Model Town Extension as a chunk of land or SCOs. After taking the decision, the LIT will have to get the rate fixed again from the district-level price and rate fixation committee, according to the orders.

As per the orders issued by the Local Government on Saturday, the auction of the land site at Model Town Extension land has been cancelled and the amount submitted by the successful bidder would be returned.

The Department of Local Government has also directed the Ludhiana Improvement Trust to make a decision whether it will have to sell the site at Model Town Extension as a chunk of land or SCOs. After taking the decision, the LIT will have to get the rate fixed again from the district level price and rate fixation committee, according to the orders.

The BJP and some SAD leaders had earlier raised questions over the role of LIT Chairman Raman Balasubramaniam, Cabinet Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu and some others for allegedly auctioning the prime land in Model Town Extension at throwaway prices to benefit their close associate.

Demanding CBI probe and registration of FIR against those involved in the auction of the land, Advocate Bikram Singh Sidhu, a BJP leader, had alleged that the land auction was a scam of Rs 250 crore. Sidhu had claimed that “the prime land was earlier earmarked for SCOs under the proposal of making a food street with an estimated Rs 400 crore revenue generation, but the land was auctioned merely for Rs 98.38 crore.”

After the cancellation of the auction, Bikram Singh Sidhu said, “It is a big win of the public of Ludhiana that the land auction has been cancelled. The land auction was a big scam.”

The LIT Chairman, Raman Balasubramaniam, had earlier claimed that the reserve price for the auction of the land was fixed by the committee, headed by the Ludhiana DC. Refuting the claims of the LIT Chairman, Ludhiana DC Varinder Kumar Sharma had then made it clear that no reserve price was fixed by the committee for auction of the land measuring 16,344 sq yards at Model Town Extension.

On Friday, Cabinet Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu commented on his Twitter account, “In a bid to come clean on the baseless, frivolous and motivated allegations of opposition regarding the e-auction of a piece of land by Improvement Trust Ludhiana. I request the @PunjabGovtIndia to cancel the e-auction of the said land and issue fresh dates for the new e-auction, so that any person who is willing to offer more money is able to participate.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Local Government has also asked the LIT to follow the rules for fixing the residential and commercial rates of the Gian Singh Rarewala market. Sources said that the LIT is also planning to sell the built-up commercial complex on Rani Jhansi Road by reducing the reserve price.