Mohali: IT City draw on Wednesday; half of applications for small plots

More than half of the 14,011 applicants for the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA)’s 750 residential plots at IT City in SAS Nagar have applied for the smallest plot size of 256.66 square yard (around 23,000 square foot).

More than half of the 14,011 applicants for the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA)’s 750 residential plots at IT City in SAS Nagar have applied for the smallest plot size of 256.66 square yard (around 23,000 square foot). There are 7,844 applications for this size under the scheme, the draw for which will be held on Wednesday (September 21) at the ground opposite PUDA Bhawan, Sector-62, SAS Nagar at 10am.

Plots are available in 300 and 500 sq yard as well. The rate is Rs 20,000 per sq yard meaning the smallest plot will cost Rs 51 lakh. For 170 plots of 300 sq yard, 3,983 applications have come. For 330 plots of 500 sq yard, there are 2,184 applications.

GENERAL CATEGORY BREAKDOWN

In the general category, GMADA has received 1,928 applications for 500 sq yard plots, 3,507 for 300 sq yard and 7,003 applications for 256.66 sq yard plots.

128 NRIs APPLY; KEEN ON SMALLER PLOTS

In the NRI category, 128 applications have been received for 256.66 sq yard plots, 71 for 300 sq yard plots and 66 for 500 sq yard plots. “The confidence of Punjabi NRIs in investing in the state is low. The only allurement for the NRIs in this scheme is its vicinity to airport, where international flights have started. They are disillusioned,” said Sanjay Arora, a property consultant based in Sector 35.

“The slump in the property market and the dip in dollar rates has hit NRIs hard. They are opting for smaller plots,” said Baljeet Singh, a SAS Nagar property consultant.

The attractiveness of the GMADA offer rests, claim realty experts, on the recent rate fluctuation in the IT City and the neighbouring Aero City. In both the locations, prices are higher than the current GMADA offering in the IT City.

In older allotments of the IT City, prices hover ‘on an average at Rs 22,000 per sq yard’. In 2015, the rate was between Rs 15,000 and Rs 18,000 per sq yard.

In the Aero City, prices have fluctuated since the scheme’s launch in 2011 from Rs 12,000 per sq yard then to between Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000 per sq yard now.

Currently, the rate in Aero City is between Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000 per sq yard.