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MC plans to turn unsold leasehold properties into freehold
The Chandigarh municipal corporation, which has failed to sell its vacant properties on leasehold, is planning to covert these to freehold to lure buyers, it has
The Chandigarh municipal corporation, which has failed to sell its vacant properties on leasehold, is planning to covert these to freehold to lure buyers, it has been learnt.
The worth of these properties is estimated to be around ₹200 crore. The matter is listed on the agenda of Wednesday’s general house meeting. MC believes buyers, who had earlier not been interested in leasehold purchases, will be more inclined to bid for freehold properties.
However, further developments depend on the UT administration’s favourable stand on this issue as it had not cleared resolutions passed earlier by the MC house.
Mayor Rajesh Kalia, however, has recently written to UT administrator VP Singh Badnore to expedite the matter.
If it’s successful in e-auctioning the properties over the next five to six months, MC is likely to create an additional saving corpus to help it tide over the lingering financial crisis.
Though e-auction of these properties on leasehold basis were held multiple times, the response in the past was very poor. For instance, 105 booths in Vikas Nagar were auctioned as many as six times in three years but none of the booths was sold, read an MC official note .
Kalia says while the MC house is likely to give its nod to this resolution, the administration has to approve it. “If the MC gets some ₹150 to ₹200 crore in a chunk, it can be converted into fixed deposit and interest income can be earned from this,” he said.
