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Journalism of Courage
SURAT, May 18: The Surat Municipal Corporation has received a tender of Rs 171 crores for its 36,500 sq m transport godown land, a prime piece of property off the Ring Road that has become controversial for the sheer amount of money involved. The four sealed tenders were opened last evening in the presence of leading citizens.
The tenders submitted by Uma Corporation and Hanif Kaskar were found invalid while the ones submitted by Shanti Corporation and Siddharth Corporation were in order. The land in question houses transport godowns that could not be opened because of legal hurdles.
While Shanti Corporation, floated by diamond merchants (Vasantbhai Gajera, Vallabh Savani alias Vallabh Topi, Ramjibhai Shamjibhai and Kishorbhai Maldar among others) offered the highest amount, Siddharth Corporation, a builders’ syndicate formed by Manhar Kakadia, Jivraj Dharukawala, C R Patil and Valji Kesari, found their offer falling short by Rs 5 crore.
Announcing that the top offer was more than the upset value of Rs 164 crores, Municipal Commissioner S Jagadeesan later told reporters that they would soon decide whether to accept the tender and send it to the standing committee for final approval. The money raised is to be used for development activities.
Earlier, however, the SMC had claimed that the land could easily fetch more than Rs 200 crores. It was not clear whether it would invite the tenders all over again.
The apparent reason why the SMC received only four tenders is the amount sought as earnest money: Rs 41 crores, a figure large enough to attract the attention of the Income Tax department. It also limited the offers to syndicates. But the top offers lent credence to the estimates that 100 sq ft shops in the neighbouring textile market sold for Rs 1 crore.
Interestingly, even before the tenders were opened, the South Gujarat Truck Owners’ and Transporters’ Association whose members will be forced to move out from the land faxed a letter to Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, saying that they were ready to buy the land for a whopping Rs 240 crores.
The association, which went to the Gujarat High Court twice and to the Supreme Court once, had not submitted any tenders. Its members were served notices to vacate the land recently by the SMC.
Claiming that its members had been wronged, the association said transporters owning godowns in various parts of the city had moved there in 1971 on the civic body’s assurance of a prospective Transport Nagar at the spot, then renowned for dacoities. Godowns were constructed after filling in a creek.
The land price then was 32 paise per sq feet; the highest bidder has now offered Rs 46,850 per sq m, while the association itself is ready to buy it at Rs 65,000/sq m.
In 1977, the civic body and the association fell out over allegations of octroi evasion. The association then sought more godowns, following which the civic body reserved a huge chunk of land for the purpose in Magob. Nothing has happened since then.
Citing a Gujarat HC judgement, the association has said that it would not move out if alternate arrangements were not made. Association president L R Sharma told Express Newsline, “We are waiting for the chief minister’s reply.”
