Mullanpur plots only for Punjab residents,proposes GMADA

Though no final decision has been taken yet regarding allotment of plots only to residents of Punjab,the Mullanpur Urban Estate project is expected to start by this month-end.

“The land has been acquired and we hope to float the project by month-end after all the formalities are completed,” Land Acqusition Collector Hargunjit Kaur said.

The proposal to float the scheme only for residents of Punjab is being considered after GMADA had to face a lot of flak regarding the Aerocity project. Over 60% of the people allotted plots in Aerocity project were from outside Punjab.

“The initial proposal has been thought after complaints were received regarding the Aerocity project,where more than 60 per cent of the plot holders were from outside Punjab,” GMADA Chief Administrator Sarvjit Singh said.

“Right now the proposal is in its initial stages,” he added.

Apart from this,there is also a proposal to put a cap on the number of applications a person can file.Those who already own plots in schemes floated by GMADA are likely to be barred from applying for the Mullanpur Urban Estate project.

Last year,GMADA had floated its much-anticipated Aerocity project which drew an overwhelming response with over 3.2 lakh applications for the 4,000 available plots.

In the Aerocity project,GMADA had collected more than Rs 9,100 crore on account of earnest money from over 3.2 lakh applicants. This amount paid around Rs 1.5 crore interest daily to GMADA. The authority earned more than Rs 225 crore on account of interest.

If the scheme is restricted to only residents of Punjab,the government is set to lose large sum of money because of lesser number of eligible applicants.

“Our primary job is to provide houses to people and the money aspect is always secondary,” said GMADA’s Sarvjit Singh.

But many believe that with the state Assembly elections slated for early next year,the move appears to be prompted more by political considerations than sound economics.

Mullanpur Urban Estate is likely to have 1,500 plots of various sizes. The project has been hanging fire since some areas of the proposed estate was under litigation.

GMADA had recently announced land compensation awards varying between Rs 1.27 and Rs 1.30 crore per acre for the Mullanpur Urban Estate.