E-Paper
Chandigarh: CHB turns ‘white elephant’ as revenue streams dry up
The profits dipped from ₹25 crore in 2022-23 to ₹20 crore in 2023-24, ₹17 crore in 2024-25, and further to just ₹15 crore in 2025-26 (till January 31, 2026)
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Having failed to launch even a single housing project for nearly a decade, the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) has been seeing a steady decline in its profits.
The profits dipped from ₹25 crore in 2022-23 to ₹20 crore in 2023-24, ₹17 crore in 2024-25, and further to just ₹15 crore in 2025-26 (till January 31, 2026).
Apart from absence of fresh housing schemes, the falling income from e-auctions, traditionally CHB’s main source of revenue, is behind the sharp decline. In 2022-23, the board sold 114 properties, earning ₹76.2 crore. Sales dropped drastically to just 35 properties in 2023-24, fetching ₹22.9 crore, and further to only 18 properties in 2024-25, generating a mere ₹9.2 crore, an overall decline of nearly 88% in three years.
The board is now forced to rely on interest earned from fixed deposits (FDRs) and recovery of pending dues. Interest earned from FDRs increased from ₹25.99 crore in 2022-23 to ₹35.68 crore in 2024-25. Collections from pending dues and transfer fees stood at ₹25.1 crore, ₹28 crore, and ₹23.6 crore during the past three financial years.
The issue was also highlighted during a presentation made before UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria on September 11 last year.
In response to declining revenues, CHB has also curtailed its expenditure. Spending on salaries, allowances, and leave encashment fell from ₹64.9 crore in 2022-23 to ₹41.4 crore in 2023-24, before rising slightly to ₹44.8 crore in 2024-25. Legal and other administrative expenses also dropped sharply from ₹20 crore to ₹7.1 crore during the same period. Direct costs linked to property sales have become minimal due to the slowdown in housing activity.
A senior CHB official said new housing schemes in Sectors 53, 54, and the IT Park are in the pipeline. “We are hopeful that once these projects are launched, the financial condition of the board will improve,” the officer said. Notably, the board has not launched any housing project since 2016, when it introduced a scheme of 200 two-bedroom flats in Sector 51 priced at ₹69 lakh each. Since then, several proposed projects have either remained stuck in technical processes or are awaiting administrative approvals.
Box: Budget slashed sharply
CHB’s annual budget has also been drastically reduced to ₹100 crore for 2024-25, compared to its earlier average of around ₹350 crore. In 2023-24, the board had projected an income of ₹47 crore against an expenditure of ₹33 crore, estimating a modest profit of ₹14 crore. However, the actual targets were not achieved.
