Noida authority curbs memberships, will finish new golf course from own funds
The authority approved a tentative budget of ₹90 crore for developing the golf course at Sector 151A during its 198th board meeting in February 2020. The project includes a 90-acre golf course, a 20-acre adventure sports facility, and a 10-acre heliport
The Noida authority has changed the funding pattern for constructing the new golf course in Sector 151 and said it will spend funds from its own pocket to complete the facility that is almost half ready, senior officials said on Wednesday.
This latest decision is a deviation from its earlier plan to arrange funds by collecting membership fees from patrons, officials said.
“We have changed the funding pattern as depending on membership fee would require that we induct more and more members. Adding more than 1,000 members will overcrowd the golf course affecting the quality of service provided to members. Therefore, we will stop giving membership to non-government officials,” said a Noida authority official, asking not to be named.
The Noida authority chief executive officer Lokesh M has approved the new funding pattern in-principle paving the way for the work to be expedited on the project.
According to officials, the authority approved a tentative budget of ₹90 crore for developing the golf course at Sector 151A during its 198th board meeting in February 2020. The project includes a 90-acre golf course, a 20-acre adventure sports facility, and a 10-acre heliport. In June 2021, the authority hired a private agency to develop the golf course, and this will be the second golf course developed by authority -- the first being the 18-hole course in Sector 38A developed in the 1990s.
The authority has completed 50% of the project, with officials estimating that the remaining work will be completed by the end of 2024, provided the current pace is maintained. The authority has already finished administrative and cafeteria structures and is now accelerating the landscaping process, said officials.
According to officials, the general public will be required to pay a membership fee of ₹10 lakh (excluding taxes), while employees of the Uttar Pradesh government will be required to pay a fee of ₹4 lakh. According to the authority, government employees outside Uttar Pradesh must pay a membership fee of ₹6 lakh. For a corporate membership and non-resident Indians, the authority will charge around ₹15 lakh per person.
So far, the authority has granted membership to 925 applicants who paid the fee in instalments and 209 members have paid the fee in full. But the members in the past have expressed their anger against the authority for its failure to complete and deliver the project as per the deadline.
The authority said it could not complete the golf course project in Sector 151, along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, because a few farmers refused to give their land for the project, thus disrupting the work at the site.
“We are resolving the farmers’ issues to expedite the work on this project,” said Lokesh M.
The farmers also disrupted the boundary wall construction demanding higher land compensation for their land.
The Noida authority officials said curtailing new memberships was necessary to prevent overcrowding of the course, which will affect the quality of services provided to members and the infrastructure will not be able to cope with the pressure.
“Whatever fund is required to complete the remaining work will be arranged by the authority,” said a senior official, asking not to be named.