RMC to construct 1,010 more 2BHK flats for EWS-II

The RMC standing committee cleared a proposal of the housing department to construct 1010 flats of the EWS-II type and 47 shops in the Popatpara area of the city at the cost of Rs 119.05 crore. The standing committee approved the proposal to award the construction work to Vinay Infratech Private Limited (VIPL), a construction firm based out of the city.

As part of the project, RMC would construct 1,010 dwelling units (DUs) of two-bedrooms-hall-kitchen (2BHK) type, having a total carpet area of 40 square metres or 430 square feet. A flat of this affordable housing scheme will cost RMC more than Rs 10 lakh each. However, a beneficiary selected through draw of lots will have to pay only Rs 5.5 lakh for a flat as the state and Central governments will provide assistance worth Rs 1.5 lakh each while the RMC will bear the remaining construction cost and the cost of the land, civic officers said.

This is the first affordable housing scheme to be launched by the RMC since Octobr 2020. The civic body had launched the construction of 1,248 DUs of EWS-I category and 1,056 DUs of EWS-II category in Vavdi area of the city on October 1, 2020. These housing units being constructed in Vavdi are expected to be ready to be handed over to identified beneficiaries in June this year, KS Gohel, city engineer of RMC’s housing department said, adding that 1,020 DUs of EWS-II category being constructed in the Mavdi area of the city are almost ready.

These 1,010 affordable houses were part of an RMC project prepared in 2020 for constructing 1,944 DUs and 74 shops in five plots of Popatara at Rs 172.88 crore. The RMC had even floated tenders for the project in October, 2020, but had scrapped the process midway.

“We had some unsold inventory of DUs back then and there were issues of funding also. On top of that, of the five plots, litigation was going on for three of them. Therefore, the tenders were scrapped,” Gohel said, adding, “However, as per direction of the state government received in September last year, the project was revived. It has been decided that these 1010 flats and 47 shops will be constructed on two plots whose sole owner is the RMC.”

The city engineer said that currently there is no unsold inventory with the RMC. “Beneficiaries who were allotted 521 flats through draw of lots are not paying their instalments subsequently and it is likely that they may eventually surrender these flats to the RMC or the RMC may scrap the allotment. But these flats cannot be called unsold,” said Gohel, adding, “The demand for affordable houses of this category is still high in Rajkot.”