The Indian Express 09.10.2013
5 more sites sold on 2nd day of GMADA auction
FIVE more sites out of 23 sites put up for auction by the Greater
Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) were sold for Rs 13.53 crore
against a reserve price of Rs 11.1 crore on the second and final day of
the auction on Tuesday.
With this, the total number of sites sold off went up to 10 out of a total of 51 sites put under the hammer.
Significantly, less than 50 people turned up for the auction at PUDA Bhawan, Sector 62.
While a nursing home site in Sector 67 was sold for Rs 5.12 crore
against a reserve price of Rs 4.1 crore, four shops-cum-offices (SCOs)
in Sector 56 were sold for around Rs 2.1 crore each against a reserve
price of Rs 1.75 crore each. Former mayor of Chandigarh Raj Bala Malik
bought an SCO in Sector 56 for Rs 2 crore.
Two nursing home sites, 11 residential sites and 10 commercial
sites were put under the hammer on Tuesday. While none of the
residential plots was bought, all four SCOs of Sector 56 were bought,
lifting the spirits of the GMADA authorities. In the commercial plots
category, GMADA only put up SCOs and there were no booths or showrooms
on auction.
The two-day auction of residential plots, commercial sites,
nursing home sites, group housing sites and a site for school has
generated a sum of around Rs 54 crore for GMADA against a reserve price
of Rs 48.71 crore. “The response has been reasonably well as we have
managed to sell off sites worth more than Rs 50 crore. Considering the
current market conditions, we are satisfied with the response,” said
Additional Chief Administrator (GMADA) Manjot Kaur, who presided over
the auction.
Chief Administrator (GMADA) A K Sinha agreed that the target was
not achieved but said the response was good enough under the prevailing
conditions.
However, Shalinder Anand, chairman of Mohali Property Consultants’
Association, blamed the poor response on the current slowdown and the
land-pooling scheme. “The auction should not have been conducted during a
festival season when nobody is interested in buying property. Moreover,
the land pooling scheme by the government, which attracts a better
response, has led to the poor turnout at GMADA auctions,” he said.
On Monday, 28 sites were put up for auction, out of which only
five sites — two commercial and three residential —were sold. None of
the group housing sites was sold. Out of the residential plots sold, the
two sites in Sector 68 fetched Rs 2.7 crore and Rs 2.78 crore against a
reserve price of Rs 2.63 crore each while another one in Sector 69 was
sold for Rs 4.02 crore against a reserve price of Rs 3.95 crore.
The total reserve price of the 51 sites auctioned was around Rs 277.5 crore.
The response has been worse than in June this year when there
were only 18 successful bidders for a total of 66 sites put on auction
while two successful bidders had backed out. Around Rs 17.5 crore were
fetched in that auction, with mostly booths attracting the successful
bidders. No booths were put up for auction this time. The response to
GMADA auctions has been consistent for the last several years. It was
only in November 2011 that 42 out of 61 sites were sold.
