Punjab Real Estate

The scheme involves 50 per cent of the project cost as grant from the Centre. The company has also written to the Punjab government for its equity participation to the extent of 15 per cent, which is under consideration. Officials in Punjab Agro Industries Corporation (PAIC), said IFFPIL had been awarded the project after Mumbai-based Unity Infraprojects Ltd consortium failed to make any headway.

Besides, general infrastructure, the proposed park would have capacity to accommodate atleast 35 agro-processing units. Speaking to Business Standard, IFFPIL, Managing Director, Sukhinder Singh said, "The Food Park Scheme will be implemented by a SPV, namely International Mega Food Park Ltd in which the stakeholders will be investors in the park, farmers, FII's, FI's, service providers, etc. Further, we have written to the state governments for its equity participation in the SPVs. The park would be spread over 60-70 acres and the total project cost would be Rs 140-150 crore. We will promote agro processing units in the par."The company has already acquired the land for the project.

The proposed park ia likely to benefit thousand of farmers in the area which is one of the backward area of the state and the cropping pattern is restricted to wheat and paddy. " We plan to change the cropping pattern in next 4-5 years, " added Singh.

Source: Business-standard Chandigarh-based IFFPIL plans to develop mega food park in Punjab

Officials in the government revealed that the government aims to attract some prominent players, so it extended the date.

The new upcoming IT Park at Railmajra would be a self-contained IT Park right on the national highway and currently, the government has invited entrepreneurs for allotment of five plots each of 1,000 square yards and 2,000 square yards. Also, areas for commercial activities, multiplex etc. have also been earmarked to cater to the IT industry

The IT Park will particularly benefit SME entrepreneurs and start-up companies with the availability of small sizes of plots. Punjab Infotech will also set up an incubation centre and provide built up space to the start ups.

The IT park has been developed by Punjab Infotech, State's nodal agency for promotion of IT/ Knowledge industry in the State.

Punjab Infotech will be spending '8 crore for basic infrastructure development and has also tied-up with Rayat Bahra campus adjacent to the IT Park for provision of facilities including transportation, banking, shopping, conference hall etc.

It has also made provision for Service Apartments at the IT Park. IT Units/Parks will have permissible FAR of 300 per cent on gross area of the project.

All cities of Punjab would be interconnected with four or six-lane roads after completion of seven major projects worth Rs 6,689 crore. These projects, which would be completed in next two years, will make the state the first in the country to have such a facility, he said.

Sukhbir said by June 2011, major road projects including 4-laning of Zirakpur-Patiala road (NH-64), 4-laning of Patiala-Bathinda road and 6-laning of Sher Shah Suri Marg (NH-1) from Panipat to Jalandhar (Rs 2700 crore) will change the face of the state.

He also inaugurated four new projects including Railway Over bridge at Budhlada and Railway Under bridge at Mansa.

He said that in view of priority given by the Chief Minister, Mr.Bhupinder Singh Hooda to sourthern Haryana, particularly district Mahendergarh in the matter of development, the people of this area would organize a samman rally at ITI ground, Mahendergarh on August 22 to honour Chief Minister. The rally would break all the previous records in terms of crowd.

He said that the Chief Minister had done a commendable by making the neglected area of district Mahendergarh as a leading district in education as the Central university has been set up in the rural areaof the district. With the setting up of this university, the latent talent of the rural areas would come to the fore.

Rao Dan Singh said that the Chief Minister has expressed great respect to the area by appointing a noted educationist, Dr.K.C.Bhardwaj, resident of village Pali of this area, as Vice Chancellor of Ch.Devi Lal University, Sirsa. Dr.Bhardwaj would also be honoured in this rally, he added.

The Aerocity Township coming up near the airport, too, fetched Rs 1.5 crore an acre for farmers in April this year. Punjab is now all set to offer an equally hefty compensation to farmers for the upcoming Urban Estate in the scenic vicinity of Chandigarh at Mullanpur.

"The land compensation for the 444 acres to be acquired by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) at Mullanpur will be Rs 1.5 crore per acre for farms near the highway and 1.25 crore for those seven or more kilometres away," said Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, S S Sandhu. The final compensation will be announced after the meeting of the price fixation committee headed by the Mohali deputy commissioner.

And it is not just the high-potential areas in Chandigarh's vicinity that have been rewarded generously by the government. Punjab has been equally magnanimous in compensating farmers whose land do not `qualify' for such a good deal. In 2009, the erstwhile Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), now Powercom, had objected to the "high" land compensation figure for the state's biggest power project, the 2,640-MW plant at Gidderbaha.

"PSEB had referred back the matter of land compensation to the government, citing the rates to be on the higher side. Much of the land to be acquired was wasteland owing to waterlogging," said a former PSEB official.

Finally, three different rates were fixed for the nearly 2,300 acres that were to be acquired from two villages. "Though the 2008 land acquisition proceedings for the power plant have now lapsed and will have to be initiated afresh, the rate of the best land was finalised at Rs 28 lakh an acre, including 30 per cent solatium and 10 per cent no-litigation premium. For the second best land, the price was worked out to be Rs 16.5 lakh an acre, plus the two allowances Rs 23 lakh an acre while the compensation for the waterlogged land was decided to be Rs 14 lakh an acre, plus allowances that totalled up to Rs 19.6 lakh an acre," said Muktsar Deputy Commissioner Varun Rujam.

Source: The Indian Express By Sukhdeep Kaur Punjab sets high price for its land

Official sources said the state government and the NHAI have agreed to provide one exclusive entry and exit point for business city of Ludhiana and ensure completion of the project by June 2011. The meeting also decided to put all the four projects with a combined project cost of Rs 4,225 crore, including six-laning of Panipat Jalandhar Section of NH-1, four-laning of Jalandhar Dhilwan section of NH-1, four or six-laning of Kharar Ludhiana section of NH-95, four-laning of Ludhiana Talwandi section of NH-95 on fast track ensuring their early completion.

Accompanied by State PWD minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, the deputy CM also had a detailed meeting with the NHAI chairman to sort out lingering issues coming in the way of early completion of various lifeline projects of Punjab.

A joint committee of chief general manager, NHAI Chandigarh and chief engineer National Highways, Punjab PWD was constituted to work out the solution for small obstacles coming in the way of smooth completion of this project. Singh assured Badal that the work of Ludhiana-Talwandi section would be allotted by September 2010 and for Kharar-Ludhiana section by January 2011.

It is a `one-time settlement policy', which comes every election. With unauthorised housing colonies having mushroomed across the state and in every minister's constituency, the Cabinet wants the recent notification offering a `final' one-time settlement to legalise them be redrafted with relaxed norms.

The notification, in its present form, can help only 10 per cent of the nearly 3,500 illegal colonies to get a legal tag. Following opposition of several ministers to the norms, the notification will now go to the Cabinet only after they are relaxed by the state's housing and urban development department.

The changed norms may mean colonies, which do not comply with the minimum specifications in terms of infrastructure, road width and civic amenities, will also get a legal stamp.

Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, Dr S S Sandhu said the notification would come up before the Cabinet after the norms were redrafted. Last month, in a bid to check the haphazard growth in the state, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had announced that his government would soon amend the Punjab Apartment Property Regulation (PAPR) Act 1995 to insert stringent provisions of law to deter builders from indulging in the construction of unauthorised colonies.

The CM was responding to the demand of the Punjab unit of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI).

CREDAI, which had later issued half-page advertisements thanking the government for concessions offered to the sector, blames the mushrooming of illegal colonies on "unrealistic" hike in external development charge (EDC), licence fee and change of land use (CLU) charges effected in 2007, a year that also witnessed a slowdown of demand in real estate across the country.

Source: The Indian Express By Sukhdeep Kaur Cabinet for `relaxed' norms to bail out illegal colonies

According to norms it is necessary for every plot buyer in the residential area to build a structure within three years. Till now GLADA used to take reasonable non-construction charges from the buyer-cum-investors, who had not built structures on the sold site. With GLADA increasing the non-construction charges by nearly 50-150 per cent, it would force the buyer-cum-investor to build a structure on the proposed site or sell it. Otherwise, GLADA would get more profit from the investment of real estate investors.

According to an estimate 25 per cent of the land sold by GLADA was still vacant with no structures standing on them. To hasten the process of construction, GLADA has increased the prevailing charges from Rs 10,000 per square meter to Rs 12,000 per square meter. After the first three years, the non-construction charges are 2 per cent of the prevailing charges, they then keep on rising with the passage of time.

There are many plots, which were sold by GLADA about 13 years ago and still waiting for structures to be built upon them. Owners of these properties have to bear 150 per cent more non-construction charges than what they were paying in past.

According to a property dealer, "The increased charges could lower the value of the real estate property of GLADA. For most of the investors there is no way out but sell their property otherwise they would have to bear great losses."

GLADA official Jagjit Singh said, "Non-construction charges are meant to force people to construct structures as soon as possible. As the property prices have risen so it was necessary to increase the prevailing charges. However, new charges will also force people to construct the structures as soon as possible."

As many as 10 acres each will be required for colleges and engineering and technology colleges. As many as 2.5 acres each will be required for a pharmacy college and a hotel management & catering technology and applied arts & crafts For architectural degree colleges, five acres of land will be required and for an MBA/MCA institute, land should be 1.25 acres.

Similarly, one acre plus 0.25 acre for each additional course will be required for B.Ed/M.Ed./D.Ed./JBT courses. For a polytechnic and medical college with hospital, five acres and 25 acres of land will be required, respectively.

These area norms have been approved for educational institutions in residential colonies being developed by HUDA, colonisers and change of land-use cases in controlled areas as well as municipalities.

GMADA expects to sell around 300,000 forms in just a month for the 4,000-odd accomodations, indicating a rise in momentum in the real estate development across the tri-city -- Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula.

"The real estate market is not just back. It is back with vengeance," Premium Acres Infratech's Managing Director Sanjay Jain said.

Premium Acres had purchased 30 acres of land in Mohali in the TDI city, where it plans to construct plots and villas. Jain said they have already sold off a major chunk in the project, despite prices being raised 10 per cent from the inaugural one. The company is planning to increase the tariff by another 10 per cent in the upcoming months and is optimistic that the raise would not be a deterrent in the success of the project.

"The buyers' confidence has returned and this is driving the market in a positive direction," Jain said.

Sanjeev Sharma, broker officer of RE/MAX, a real estate franchising network pointed out that DLF and Emaar MGF projects are bringing in a good response, proving the residential real estate was picking up. The prices in the region have appreciated by 25 to 30 per cent, backed by positive sentiments surrounding the market.

"Even as Chandigarh's property market may be showing some anomaly (prices continue to move up), the satellite towns have stabilised and are moving in the right direction," said Manoj Kashyap, regional director, Homebay -- a residential subsidiary of Jones Lang LaSallé Meghraj.

"Projects are offering good quality playing on the public sentiment of value-for-money. Better facilities stand to gain from the bullish market," said Harish Sharma, GM marketing, ATS Infrastructure Limited.

The policy, a first of its kind in India, is called the Punjab Land Purchase Policy. To begin with, it is being implemented for setting up of an urban estate in Ludhiana.

Principal Secretary (Housing and Urban Development) Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu said though the policy is not intended to replace land acquisition, it is certainly aimed at bringing the landowner and the state government together for a mutually rewarding partnership where the owner can also benefit from the development plans of the government.

He said as part of the new policy, various urban development agencies of the state can buy land from the owners at the rate quoted by them if the rates suit the government. The policy, he added, has the nod of the Cabinet.

The policy involves the constitution of a district-level land purchase committees, which will put up proposals regarding the requirement of land for various government projects to an executive committee, which will approve and execute the land purchase for projects.

Source: The Tribune By Chitleen K Sethi Now, During Land Acquisition Owners Can Quote price In Punjab

The Assocham report explains that the state attracted Rs 1, 70,218 crore out of a total of Rs 1,04,93,601 crore announced in India as of March 2010. Private and public sectors contributed to equal shares in the total investment that the state attracted, adds the paper -- `Revitalising The Economy of Punjab'.

Releasing the findings, Assocham Secretary General, D S Rawat said Punjab's share works out to be 1.8 per cent in the total investment undertaken by different government sources in India.

On the other hand, Punjab's share in the total investment made by the private sector in India was 1.5 per cent. The state government is the major public sector investor while the domestic private sector turned out to be the major source of investment in Punjab.

The state received 228 investment proposals in recent times of which 54 will be cleared by the central government and 165 were announced by the state government while nine proposals were mooted for the state by its local bodies, said Rawat.

Source: Business-standard Industry shies away from punjab

The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) was in such a tearing hurry to launch the 1,000-acre Aerocity township project that it forgot to take environment clearance for it.

According to a notification issued by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), all townships and area development projects that cover an area of more than 50 hectares or 124 acres should take clearance from it.

A source in the regional office of the ministry told Newsline that so far they have not received any communication from GMADA in this regard. An officer said possession of plots could not be granted in case clearance was not given.

The project proponent should ideally advertise in the newspaper that scheme has been accorded environmental clearance and give details of the MoEF website where it is displayed. But the Punjab government went ahead and launched the project throwing norms to the wind. Though in adverts and on brochure GMADA has called Aerocity Mohali's El Dorado, there is no mention of environment clearance, which should have been obtained before demarcating plots.

Aerocity would be developed as an independent integrated township comprising 4,000 plots of 125 to 500 square yards, and sites reserved for commercial, institutional and multi-storey flats.

Sources said GMADA would be in a fix if the monitoring authority raises certain objections, like asking for a provision of greenbelt where plots have been demarcated. Asserting that the govern ment should lead by example for private developers, the official said, "As per rules, members of the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) inspect the site for screening or scoping or appraisal, with prior notice of at least seven days to the applicant, who should provide necessary facilities for inspection. Then, the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) takes a decision based on the recommendations of SEAC, and moves the case to MoEF. But the MoEF has not been approached so far in this case."

Source: The Indian Express BY JASNEET BINDRA No environment clearance taken from ministry for Aerocity

The theme park and Filmcity projects have been scrapped, while sources say Medicity might be relaunched in a new avatar. Earlier, Parsvnath Developers Limited had offered the Administration three options: to terminate ties on the project; restructure it, approve the developer's plans, and amend some clauses in the agreement; or carry forward the project on a prorata basis (this means the developer takes the land for which money has been paid and rest of the land is either auctioned off by the Administration or put to some other use). Initially, the Administration dismissed all the three options as "non-viable"; but now, according to sources, the Administration is likely to agree to one of them. "There are chances that the project could be revived, depending on the flexibility shown by both sides. We are working on some kind of an amicable solution to the dispute. Certain modifications could be worked on to save the project," a senior official of the Administration said, adding, "The final nod will definitely come from Raj Bhawan, but we are working on it." Under the agreement, the developer was allotted land to construct 1,431 housing units and commercial area in the Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park. But post allotment, investigating agencies like the Central Vigilance Commission and the Central Bureau of Investigation launched probes into these projects.

At present, senior officials are in the dock for alleged irregularities in conceptualising and allotting of the projects. "While the Theme Park and Filmcity projects have already been scrapped by the Administration, Medicity will be restructured and launched, if at all, in a different manner," another senior official of the Administration said.

All is not well with project
Revival hopes notwithstanding, the Prideasia project has to contend with a lot of problems. So far, of the Rs 821 crore initial bid amount, the developer has paid Rs 517 crore to the Administration; Rs 304 crore has still not been paid. The Chandigarh Housing Board, a promotional partner in the project, had threatened the developer to recover the pending amount with penal interest; but the developer has retaliated by seeking arbitration on various counts. The project is presently under arbitration.

Slum rehab scheme,too, in dire straits
The fate of Chandigarh Housing Board's slum rehabilitation project, launched under the JNNURM scheme, is tied to that of the Prideasia project, as the money generated from the latter was to be pumped into the construction of hundreds of flats to be constructed by the CHB. If Prideasia project fails, chances are that the slum rehab scheme may bite dust, too.

Last week after the company filed a claim demanding over Rs 50 crore from the Administration, counsel for the UT suggested they recover Rs 350 crore from the builders for "inordinate delay" in the project.

In its claim, filed in six volumes, the company has demanded refund of Rs 47 crore, which it had paid to the Administration on various accounts like land and construction. The company has also demanded an additional Rs 3 crore along as litigation charges and nine per cent interest over the amount demanded.

In response, counsel for the UT Administration Amar Vivek furnished a legal opinion to counter the claim of Rs 350 crore. The Administration, however, is yet to take a final decision in this regard.

"It is one thing to submit a reply to the counter claim but quite another to lodge a counter claim. The Chandigarh Administration has suffered quite a bit due to the inordinate delay in the project.

The cost of establishing the entire project now or any other project in its place would have to be undertaken at the current prevalent market prices," the opinion reads.

UT counsel suggests counter claim of Rs 350 cr for delay in Film City projects Had Parsvnath implemented the aforesaid project two years ago, the cost of construction and that of establishing the project would have been much lower. Even the cost of re-tendering, issuing advertisements, processing the bidder and reformulating the entire project is quite a bit of task, and all that would have to be included in the cost incurred by the Administration, in the proposed counter claim to be got filed, says counsel for UT

Source: The Indian Express By RAGHAV OHRI UT yet to decide on Parsvnath's Rs 50 crore claim

A decision to this effect was taken by Badal in a meeting with the senior officers of GMADA. The secretary, housing and urban development apprised the CM that the proposed Industrial Park would further propel the pace of industrial development in the state and this chunk of land would be made available to the prospective entrepreneurs to set up their ventures.

Badal also gave in-principle approval to launch a local bus service within Mohali to facilitate the local residents and commuters. The CM also asked the chief administrator GMADA to tie up with PRTC to chalk out the modalities for running the local bus service in Mohali on the pattern of Jalandhar and Ludhiana.

Badal also gave approval to set up a modern fire station at Mohali at a cost of 15 crore, equipped with latest fire fighting machinery.

इस एरिया में तीन रजीडेंशियल और एक कॉमर्शियल प्रोजेक्ट बनाने वाली कंपनी एपी श्रेष्ठ के डायरक्टर मनोज मित्तल का कहना है कि पिछले 6 महीने दौरान यहां असल खरीदारांे की संख्या में खासी बढ़ोतरी हुई है। इस कंपनी के पीरमुच्छला मंे पंचकूला हाइट्स,ट्राईसिट& #2368; होम व प्लेटिनम रजिडेंशियल प्रोजेक्ट में 2 व 3 बेडरूम सेट 450 फ्लैटों का निर्माण अंतिम चरण में है। मित्तल ने बताया कि चंडीगढ़ पेरीफैरी मंे असल खरीदारांे की बढ़ती संख्या को देखते हुए उनकी कंपनी पीरमुच्छला मंे ही 8 एकड़ मंे 380 फलैट्स का नया प्रोजेक्ट शुरू किया है। तकरीबन 70 करोड़ रुपये की लागत से अगले तीन वर्ष मंे पूर होने वाले इस प्रोजेक्ट मंे कंपनी 300 3 बेडरूम सेट व 80 5 बेडरूम सेट बनाएगी। पीरमुच्छला मंे रॉयल एम्पायर भी इस महीने फेज दो का निर्माण कार्य शुरू करने वाला हैं। रॉयल एम्पायर के एमडी प्रिंस गर्ग ने बताया कि उनके मौजूदा प्रोजेक्ट मे ़फ्लैट तकरीबन तैयार हैं जिनका पजेशन इस महीने के अंत से शुरू हो जाएगा। गर्ग का मानना है कि चंडीगढ़, पंचकूला व मोहाली शहर में प्रोपर्टी की कीमतों मंे हुई अप्रत्याशित बढ़ोतरी का असर है कि पेरीफैरी में पिछले 6 महीने से खरीदारों के बीच फिर से अच्छी मांग निकल रही है।

जीरकपुर मंे पॉम कोर्ट ने अपने 140 3 व 4 बेडरूम सेट फ्लैट मार्च में पजेशन के लिए तकरीबन तैयार कर लिये हैं। इसमें से 130 फ्लैट बेच चुकी यह कंपनी अब दूसरा प्रोजेक्ट शुरू करने के लिए जमीन की तलाश कर रही है। कंपनी के मार्केटिंग मेनेजर अनुराग मिश्रा का कहना है कि पॉम कोर्ट के फ्लैट बिकने के बाद अब कंपनी जीरकपुर में ही नये प्रोजेक्ट के लिए जमीन खरीदने की तैयारी मंे है।

Source: businessbhaskar.com By हरीश मानव ट्राइसिटी के आसपास में बढ़ने लगी प्रोपर्टी की मांग

Part of the credit of the build-up in property prices in the township lies in the high escalation in prices of property in lesser developed sectors of Panchkula, including Sectors 25, 26 and 27.

Since the availability and affordability of property in developed sectors is scarce, buyers are left to chose from space in developing and lesser developed sectors in town.

Rajesh Dhanda of RS Estate Property Consultants say, "The percentage of hike, and also the number of transactions, in these sectors is much more than before, since that's where a majority of the property audience hopes a high return on investment."

"A 10 marla plot in Sector 25 was sold at Rs 55 lakh over a year ago. The owner this week received an offer of 75 lakh for the same space," he cited an example.

Real estate experts say a lot of agriculturists with medium and large land holdings in Punjab are investing in Panchkula, arguably because of better civic amenities, primarily the power supply.

Many of the investors are farmers who have sold agriculture land to developers at phenomenally high prices and are keen on making investments in Panchkula. There are also those who pocketed several crores of rupees after their land was acquired at record prices by the government in Zirakpur. They have been looking for investment options.

Source: The Indian Express Dormant Panchkula realty all set for an upsurge

In a significant decision taken at the meeting of the Punjab Council of Ministers, chaired by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in Chandigarh on Thursday, the External Development Charges (EDC) and Licence Fee (LF) have been cut drastically up to 55 per cent to make the housing, commercial and institutional sectors affordable. Besides, the promoters of mega and super mega projects have been allowed to deposit the reduced EDC and LF in instalments instead of one-time advance deposit mandatory till now. To avail of the concessions, the beneficiary realtors will be required to provide free of cost land for the construction of houses for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), a senior government official told here today. To promote the edu cation sector, the government has reduced up to 90 per cent of the EDC and LF for the pro moters of senior secondary schools. The new charges for the plots of educational institu tions will be one tenth of the charges for plots meant for other purposes.

Giving a boost to the Group Housing, the state Cab inet has decided to charge such projects at the rates ap plicable to the plotted devel opment. "The reduction in charges varies from area to area," the officer said.

To promote infrastructure for sports, health, recreation and EWS housing, the government has created a special Social Infrastructure Fund (SIF).

Source: The Indian Express Punjab offers sops to developers in Mohali and Ludhiana

The latest urban estate approved on Thursday will come up along the proposed Mohali-Kharar bypass. The seven-kilometre long 200 feet wide bypass will create an alternate link between Mohali and major parts of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

"Keeping in view the growing housing need, we have taken up on priority the task to provide residential plots at affordable rates," GMADA Chief Administrator (CA) Vivek Partap Singh said.

The area of the new urban estate hasn't been demarcated yet. So the number of plots to be carved out cannot be estimated, but they will not be less than a few thousand.

Aerocity, GMADA's first urban estate, was launched this month. The second urban estate in Mullanpur, close to PGI in Chandigarh, is set to be launched this year.

While 4,000 freehold residential sites are being offered in Aerocity, almost 2,000 plots are expected to be carved out in the Mullanpur urban estate.

Singh said the massive re sponse to Aerocity was due to the affordable rate of the plots and its strategic location.

Source: The Indian Express GMADA approves third urban estate

Commercial Cheer For Patiala

Recently, in a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with the Patiala Urban Planning and Development Authority (PDA), Omaxe Ltd announced the launch of its Rs 77-crore shopping-cum- office (SCO) complex in Patiala. The complex will have a limited number of shops of various sizes, and will be a part of the PDA-Omaxe City, a 333-acre self-sufficient township that is coming up on the outskirts of the city.

Unlike Ludhiana, there is no industry in Patiala and hence investment in the commercial sector had never been substantial. But now the trend seems to be changing. The recent auction of the SCOs at the City Centre left many surprised.

What has brought smiles on the faces of those dealing in property, however, is the fact that commercial sites at PDA-Omaxe City were auctioned in the first phase with almost 300 per cent increase in the reserve price. Many SCOs, whose reserve price was fixed at Rs 30,000 per sq yd finally went for Rs 1.15 lakh per sq yd.

Source: The Tribune Commercial Cheer :Rates Of Commercial Property In Patiala Are On A Northward March

Raising issue with Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of Planning commission of India, Badal said the Eastern Rail Freight Corridor from Kolkata to Ludhiana should also be extended to Amritsar and linked to the Western Freight Corridor with multi-logistic park facilities. These initiatives would be of great help in accelerating the pace of industrialization in the land locked State.  

Badal also asked the Centre to advise National Power Thermal Corporation to set up a Central Sector Thermal Plant in the state to further augment the power generation.  The Planning Commission assured that they would take up this matter with NTPC.

Badal requested the Government of India to approve Rs. 100 crore for pending works under CRF and clear the backlog of Rs. 114 crore as on March 31, 2009.  He mentioned that as per earlier formula, for allocating funds under Central Road Fund (CRF), the weightage was given to the states for area and fuel consumption in the ratio of 40:60. Now this ratio had been changed to 70:30. Due to this change, annual accrual for the State had reduced by over Rs. 28 crore during 2009-10.

Source: www.punjabnewsline.com Punjab CM demands extension of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor up to Amritsar

सूत्रों ने बताया कि जीरकपुर में फ्रुटफेड को-ओपरटिव की ढ़ाई एकड़ जमीन हाऊसफैड को सौंप दी गई है जिस पर शापिंग कॉम्पलेक्स का निर्माण कार्य शीघ्र ही शुरू कर दिया जाएगा। इसके अलावा बनूड़ में बनने वाले सरकारी कर्मचारियों के 816 और ईडब्लयूएस के 90 फ्लैटों के साथ 36 दुकानें भी बनाई जा रही हैं। उन्होंने बताया कि हाऊसफेड पंजाब की मोहाली, लुधियाना, अमृतसर, कपूरथला और बनूड़ में 32 एकड़ भूमि पर तकरीबन 2,300 फ्लैट बनाए जा रहे हैं। इनमें से बनूड़ में ईडब्लयूएस के लिए 90 और कपूरथला में 24 फ्लैट बनाए जा रहे हैं। हाऊसफेड पंजाब के अधिकारियों ने बताया कि ईडब्लयूएस के लिए 403 वर्गफुट कवर्ड एरिया वाला फ्लैट कपूरथला में 5.90 लाख का और बनूड़ का फ्लैट 5.98 लाख रुपये का है।

राज्य में चल रही आवासीय परियोजनाओं की जानकारी देते हुए हाऊसफैड अधिकारियों ने बताया कि लुधियाना के पख्खोवाल रोड़ पर 3. 17 एकड़ भूमि पर बनने वाले 200 फ्लैटों में से 110 फ्लैट तैयार करके आवंटित कर दिये गये हैं और 90 फ्लैटों का निर्माण अंतिम दौर में है। अमृतसर में 9.78 एकड़ में 144 फ्लैट तैयार कर लिए गये हैं। कपूरथला मंे 5 एकड़ भूमि पर 216 और सरकारी कर्मचारियों के लिए बनूड़ मंे 15 एकड़ पर बनने वाले 810 फ्लैट 2010 के अंत तक तैयार कर लिए जाएंगे। मोहाली के सेक्टर 79 में 10 एकड़ भूमि पर 632 फ्लैट बनाए जाने हैं।

It has been four years since the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) constructed a house under the general housing category. Also, with the Parsvnath's project of developing the Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park getting scrapped, the board's proposals of a slum rehabilitation colony have hit a dead end as the funds were to come from Parsvnath.

The only recent scheme for the general category people is the housing society coming up in Sector 63. However, construction has not started yet.

Though there are proposed schemes but nothing has been formalised in black and white.

While no construction had taken place in 200809, the CHB had constructed 768 houses in 20032004,544 in 2002-2003, 512 in 2001-02 and 326 houses in 2000-01.

All these houses were under HIG and MIG categories. There were other constructions carried out by the board including prefabricated house structures and houses for the PGI employees etc.

Speaking to Newsline, Ashok Mittal, a resident of Sector 44, said, "CHB is for common people like us.

We are the ones who are missed out by them every
time they plan a scheme. I appreciate their concern for the slum dwellers but the Administration should not overlook people under the general category."

Santosh Saini, a resident of Sector 22, said, "While there are no flats being constructed for the general category people. On the top of this, the board has put a condition that no resident can buy more than one flat. With prices for property soaring, the general category deserves immediate attention by the Administration". Meanwhile, as far as the slum rehabilitation projects are concerned, officials from the Administration claim that they would complete the projects. CHB Chairman Mohanjeet Singh said, "Our priority are the people belonging to the low-income strata but it is not that we have ignored general housing. The Sector-63 housing society is coming up and we have other plans as well."

A high level meeting presided over by the deputy chief minister, Sukhbir Singh Badal approved the Accelerated and Integrated Urban Development Plan to rejuvenate all components of urban development including road infrastructure, sewerage and water supply network, strengthening power transmission network, solid waste collection, landscaping of gardens and traffic management. Badal suggested nominating a nodal officer for every city to coordinate the development process of all agencies for smooth execution of projects.

Badal said nodal officer would also coordinate with various national and international agencies including union urban development ministry, World Bank and other international agencies for timely completion of their projects. Local government and industries minister Manoranjan Kalia and MP Navjot Singh Sidhu also attended the meeting.

जेएनएनयूआरएम के तहत यूटी चंडीगढ़ की इस परियोजना पर केंद्र सरकार 396 करोड़ रुपये खर्च कर रही है। वहीं चंडीगढ़ प्रशासन निर्माण लागत मंे 168.08 करोड़ रुपये खर्च कर रहा है जबकि 356 एकड़ जमीन की कीमत 667.54 करोड़ रुपये आंकी गई है। 307.56 वर्गफुट एरिया में बने एक मकान के लिए 5 वर्षो तक प्रति माह 800 से 1000 रुपये किराया देय होगा। हर 5 वर्ष के अंतराल पर किराए में 20 फीसदी बढ़ोतरी का प्रावधान किया गया है। गरीबों को ये घर 20 साल के लिए उपलब्ध कराए जा रहे हैं। 20 वषों के बाद ये मकान इनमें रहने वाले लोगों को ही नाम मात्र कीमतों पर बेचे जाने की योजना है।

कुमार ने बताया कि जेएनएनयूआरएम के तहत चंडीगढ़ की मलिन बस्तियों मंे रहने वालों के पुर्नवास में चंडीगढ़ के जिन इलाकों में सस्ते किराए के घर बनाए जाने हैं। उनमंे सेक्टर 38 वैस्ट में जून 2011 तक 608 , अगस्त 2010 तक सेक्टर 49 में 1024, दिसंबर 2011 तक मोली जागरां में 1696, अगस्त 2011 तक रामदरबार मंे 576, जून 2011 तक धनास में 8,448 और मलोया में 8,896 घर बनाने के लिए अभी 134.05 एकड़ जमीन का अधिग्रहण किया गया है।

मकान अलॅाटमेंट प्रक्रिया में पारदर्शिता बनी रहे इसके लिए प्रशासन ने बायोमीट्रिक फिंगर प्रिंट प्रणाली लागू की है। मलिन बस्तियों से इन मकानों में पुर्नवासित किये गये लोग आदतन मकानों को बेचकर फिर से झोपड़ियों में चले जाते हैं। इससे बचने के लिए सस्ते किराए के घर की अवधारणा को अपनाया है।

बात पते की
बोर्ड ने चंडीगढ़ में 2014 तक 25,728 सस्ते मकान बनाने का लक्ष्य रखा है। 356 एकड़ में बनाए जाने वाले इन मकानांे पर 1,232.46 करोड़ की लागत आएगी।

According to these amendments, adult daughters would be entitled to permissible area in the same manner as adult sons of a landowner under the Punjab land Reforms Act, 1972.

Besides, under the existing law, after the death of a tenant only male descendents, mother or widow were entitled to get tenancy rights, which was also found discriminatory against women, the spokesman said.

In order to do away with this discrimination, the cabinet at its meeting here under the chairmanship of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, had also decided to approve the changes in the Punjab Security of Land Tenure Act, 1953, and Pepsu Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1955.

According to these, after the death of tenant, if he leaves behind no male lineal descendents then a woman descendent would also get the tenancy rights, the spokesman said.

The state cabinet, in its bid to empower women and to make the land laws gender neutral, approved amendments to certain provisions of the Punjab Land Reforms Act, 1972, Punjab Security of Land Tenure Act, 1953 and Pepsu Tenancy and Agricultural Land Act, 1955 which were found "discriminatory" against women, an official spokesman said.

`India Trade Tower' dubbed as the tallest commercial building of Punjab, with a realisation value of Rs 120 crore, is slated to be complete within two-and-half years from the commencement of construction.

The India Trade Tower that would boast of offices and retail spaces, would be a contemporary building in Ground +19 floors format having total area of 2,45,000 sq ft.

Additional Vice President (Sales and Marketing) Ritesh Sehgal said India Trade Tower aimed to fulfill the aspirations and needs of companies and the business community of Chandigarh. The company has announced Rs 4,430 per sq feet as the launch price for the commercial space in the project.

Sehgal said this office-cum -shopping complex would be a part of the proposed Global Business Park which will be an international hotel and business hub spread over about 26 acres. This project would carry a realisation value of about Rs 1,000 crore.

The business park is part of the proposed integrated township Omaxe Chandigarh Extension. The Omaxe Chandigarh Extension, which is planned over 1,000 acres of land, would be an integrated township by Omaxe to meet the burgeoning housing demand of Chandigarh. Omaxe has 10 ongoing residential and commercial projects in Punjab.

"As we are still finalising the terms with banks to issue brochures and receive application forms, the final date of launch is yet to be decided," GMADA Chief Administrator Vivek Partap Singh said. Sources said the scheme could be launched next week.

GMADA Additional Chief Administrator Balwinder Singh Multani said the scheme would remain open for a month. Subsequently, draw of lots would be conducted to allot 3,950 plots, ranging between 125 square yards (5 marla) and 500 sq yards (1 kanal).

• 3,950 plots for sale

• At three times less than market rates

• Applications may be invited next week

Since the allotment price Rs 12,000 per sq yard or Rs 3 lakh per marla is almost three times less than the prevailing market rates Rs 35,000-40,000 per square yard or Rs 8.75 lakh-10 lakh per marla officials are anticipating a huge response.

Source: The Indian Express GMADA set to launch Airport City

Land prices have seen an appreciable growth over the past few years. The area has caught the fancy of major realtors and builders. The town is undergoing development at a brisk pace and there is a lot of activity in terms of industrialisation, too, that is acting as a catalyst in the sturdy growth of the realty sector in the area. The changed socio-economic profile of the area has resulted in greater demand for planned and affordable housing with a wide array of facilities.

Its proximity to Haryana and Rajasthan makes it an ideal place for traders, who are frequent travellers, to have some of a base here. Along with this a healthy inflow of work force for various industrial projects, too, has increased the demand for housing, and affordable housing at that, in the area. No wonder then that the town has attracted major realtors like a powerful magnet, taking the real estate prices on a northward ride.

Growth boosters

• Bathinda houses two Thermal Plants --Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant in Bathinda. City and Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant in Lehra Mohabbat.

• The town is also home to the 18,000 crore Guru Gobind Singh Oil Refinery, which is currently under construction.

• A national fertilisers plant.

• Major grape-growing belt.

• Bathinda is one of the biggest foodgrain and cotton markets in northern India

• Bathinda is one of the largest railway junctions in the country, and more lines extend from here than from any other junction on the Indian Railway network.

• International Retail giant Wal Mart has plans to set up a sprawling four-and-a-half acre city centre that will house a five star hotel, a shopping mall, an entertainment zone, hypermarket, food courts, and a multiplex.

Source: The Tribune By Charandeep Singh From backwaters to forefront

• Developers & housing

• Reason to be there

• Looking ahead

The house tax exemption notification was issued in November 2007. However, the Union Government had told the state that it would not receive any grant for completing the ongoing projects and other development schemes unless the house tax was reintroduced. According to official sources, the grants stopped by the Centre were to the tune of Rs 400 crore. The cash-starved state government could hardly afford to lose this much money. The house tax exemption had adversely impacted the resources of the municipalities in the state.

The opposition has criticised the state government's decision to reintroduce the house tax. Former Mayor of Chandigarh and senior Haryana BJP leader Gian Chand Gupta said the government had betrayed the trust of the people. It first exempted house tax and had now reintroduced it after taking votes in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections. Gupta said it was wrong to say that in the absence of house tax, the Centre would not release any development grants for urban areas. He pointed out that in Chandigarh, there was still no house tax and the city was getting grants from the Union Government. Haryana INLD president Ashok Arora and convener of the trade cell of the party Subhash Goyal also described the decision as a "betrayal" with the people, who were already facing steep price rise under the Congress rule.

They said the INLD would oppose the decision on the streets. Meanwhile, official sources said the government had constituted a committee headed by a minister to review the entire structure of house tax, including the rate of tax and categories to be exempted. The committee had been asked to give its recommendations at the earliest so that the new system could replace the present system.

The committee had invited suggestions from all concerned and it would give due weightage to their views while forming a new structure of house tax. The new system is likely to be on unit area method, with self-assessment system.

A decision to this effect was taken in the 41st meeting of Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) under the chairmanship of Punjab CM, Parkash Singh Badal. A spokesman of the Punjab government said a green signal has been given to the acquisition of 200 acre at Pathankot and 140 acre at Hoshiarpur for the development of these urban estates. The state government had decided to acquire the said land under the Land Pooling Scheme. Under this scheme, both the options (land against compensation and land against land) would be offered to the land owners of the land being acquired at Pathankot and Hoshiarpur.

About 50 per cent of the total area acquired in each urban estate would be utilised for the development of roads, parks, public utilities and parking area and 5 per cent would be reserved for providing houses to the economically weaker sections (EWS).

The government had also approved the budget estimates of PUDA for the year 2010-11. Budget provides for an estimated expenditure of Rs 17.60 crore on the construction of EWS houses during the year.

Taking cognizance of a petition accusing the Haryana government of "working on behalf" of DLF and Associates, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed the dispossession of landowners of Pinjore's Islam Nagar.

Describing the acquisition process as "colourable exercise of power" and against judicial verdicts, Tara Chand and 10 other residents of Islam Nagar had claimed that initially a "notification was made under Section 4 for the acquisition of 809.79 acres".

After exemption of land belonging to persons with constructed homes "and also land belonging to property sharks etc, the notification under Section 6 was issued for acquisition of only 673.79 acres. The entire land of 118 acres belonging to the DLF has been released".

In the petition placed before Justice MM Kumar and Justice Jitendra Chauhan, the petitioners said their land was not released from the acquisition process despite a request for exemption.

Source: The Tribune By Saurabh Malik DLF  Homes In Pinjore : Dispossession Stayed

In the upcoming Airport City in Mohali, the first residential urban estate to be developed by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), 31 per cent of the plots will be reserved under various categories.

For this second urban estate in Mohali the first one was developed by the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) in Sector 76-80 almost a decade ago GMADA has carved out 3,950 plots of seven different sizes. These plots will be allotted through a draw of lots, a senior GMADA official disclosed.

Of these plots, 1,225 (31 per cent) will be under the reserved category 15 per cent for scheduled castes/scheduled tribes; 4 per cent plots for serving and retired personnel of the defence and paramilitary forces, including war widows; 3 per cent for physically handicapped/blind; 2 per cent each for freedom fighters, gallantry award winners, legal heirs of personnel of defence/armed forces killed in action and international medal-winner sportspersons; and 1 per cent for completely disabled soldiers of Punjab.

But if plots are left in the reserved category, they will be offered under the general category. Those who own any residential site allotted by any government agency in Mohali will not be eligible to apply.

These plots will be handed over to the allottees after the development work completes, which has to be done in less than two-and-a-halfyears, failing which the GMADA will pay 10 per
cent interest on the deposited amount.

"Work orders will be issued after the pre-bid meeting with the contractors on April 18," GMADA Chief Administrator (CA) Vivek Partap Singh said.

Soon after the announcement of the land acquisition award, expected very shortly, applications will be invited.

Source: The Indian Express In Mohali's second urban estate, 31% plots will be reserved