Govt bodies given priority to buy CWG flats

The Delhi government is planning to allot around 100 luxury flats in the Commonwealth Games Village in order to increase its general pool for senior officials and government appointees.

Many other government agencies and public sector organizations are also lining up for the allotment of luxury units in the posh residential complex in Delhi. According to sources, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) owns around 600 flats in the complex that has 34 towers, has received applications for 400 flats.

The Commonwealth Games Village, being developed by Emaar MGF, is a landmark project in the nation’s capital constructed for CWG by an international event. CWG Village is located in Patparganj area in east Delhi, at around 12 km from CBD. It aims to offer global living experience to its residents. The complex includes facilities such as Health club, fully equipped gym, Jacuzzi, Sports facilities with Tennis courts, Multipurpose hall, Kids Creche, Swimming pool, Party area, 100% power backup, Treated water supply, Elevators and Convenience shops.

Government bodies, PSUs, tribunals, autonomous bodies, etc are given priority to buy flats in this complex. Over 2,000 enquires from within the government organisations have already been received by the authority.

Many officials claimed that while the government has sent proposal for around 30 flats, income tax department wants allotment of around 27 apartments. Apart from these, some of the banks and PSUs have also queued up for these residential apartments in CWG.

Some officials in the Union urban development ministry alleged that they have sought allotment of flats since there is huge shortage of government accommodation across all categories, including top bureaucrats, heads of tribunals and authorities. The CWG offers two to five bedroom flats and the units are available in various categories.

However, as the decision on the pricing of these units is still pending, which is withholding the allotment process to government agencies and PSUs. As per the sources, the flats can be allotted to the applicants in two ways- either based on the market rates or on cost to cost basis. If the decision is made on the latter basis, then the prices are expected to drop by nearly 50% compared to the prevailing market rate.

In a public auction last year, DDA had raised around Rs 400 crore by selling 87 apartments where the highest bid was Rs 24,192 per sq ft, which the authority will now use as the benchmark price while selling the apartments,

Earlier, when the civic authority had sold some of the CWG flats in a public auction last year, the average cost was nearly Rs 22,000 per sq ft, as per which, a 2 bhk unit was priced in between Rs 3 to 4 crore while a 5 bhk units were priced around Rs 6 crore to Rs 7 crore.

DDA had raised around Rs 400 crore by selling 87 apartments where the highest bid was Rs 24,192 per sq ft and this price will now be used as the benchmark price while selling the apartments. At the last year’s auction, most of the flats were bought by renowned corporate houses, public sector banks, insurance and oil companies which have bought the flats for accommodating their top-level executives, said the officials.

The price of apartments in the complex is Rs 25,000 per sq ft while rates of properties in Mayur Vihar range between Rs 18,000 to Rs 20,000 per sq ft.

Prior to Commonwealth Games in October 2010, the developer Emaar MGF had only developed 1,168 apartments in the 11-acre project owing to its financial troubles. Later, the DDA came forward and bought 333 apartments for over Rs 750 crore at an average rate of Rs 11,000 per sq ft to bail out the developer in 2009 and to ensure that the project gets completed in time for the Games. By this time, the developer had sold around 280 apartments to individual buyers. The value of the units in this project has more than doubled now, from the time they were sold.

Many property consultants claim that the apartments should be made available to private individuals too as selling them only to government departments is not fair. They allege that another auction should be set up wherein everyone should be allowed to participate.