It is perhaps for the first time that the authorities have given the application forms, worth Rs 100 each, to nearly 400 employees of the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) and GMADA free of cost.
Only 1,350 application forms have been sold for 334 plots.
Recession and overpricing are being cited as the reasons behind the lukewarm response.
“Plots in the area are being offered at much lesser rates by farmers, who have opted for the land-pooling scheme under the project,” plots of sizes 100 yards and 150 yards, the rates of all other plots were lesser than that fixed by GMADA. “Against the GMADA rate of Rs 21,000 per sq yard for a 200 sq yard plot, farmers, who got plots under the land-pooling scheme during land acquisition, are offering it at Rs 19,000 per sq yard. Similarly, for a 300 sq yard plot, GMADA has set Rs 21,000 per sq yard whereas the market rate is Rs 16,500,”
The market rate of 400 sq yard and 500 sq yard plots was much less than that fixed by GMADA, “Against the GMADA rate of Rs 23,000 per sq yard, the market rate is Rs 15,000 per sq yard,”
Among the land owners, 42 per cent have opted for the land-pooling scheme under the project, worth Rs 600 crore. Under the scheme, the land owner gets residential plots of different sizes up to 1,000 sq yard and one commercial plot of 100 sq yard against each acre of land acquired by the government. The scheme was opened on March 9 and will close on April 30. The draw of lots will take place on June 5.
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