Transfer of land to DLF in muddy waters
The Punjab and Haryana High Court suppressed the Haryana government’s decision to transfer 350 acres of land to real estate giant DLF in Gurgaon. A day after this decision the state government on Thursday sent its top bureaucrats explaining its action.
The officials presented a ‘factsheet’ claiming that the key decisions pertaining to the project were taken before the Congress government came to power in Haryana. This was done in a press conference chaired by the Additional Chief Secretary, Y S Malik.
The factsheet also made many points clear. This project was conceptualised following a promotion visit of a delegation led by the then Chief Minister in 2002-03. Decisions on initial stages of the project were taken up by January 2005 before the Congress government came to power in Haryana.
The state government’s officers also mentioned that the consultant gave their valuation report at Rs. 1,683 crore, based on the market price then.The reserve price was fixed at Rs 1,700 crore. Following an international competitive bidding process, the scheme was floated in January 2009. The fact sheet also clarified that at the closing time of the scheme on April 30, 2009; only one bid was received from DLF Ltd. Hence this was not considered as a successful bidding as fair competition did not take place.
Source- The Financial Express
DLF, DLF Group Residential Projects, DLF Ltd, Haryana government, Punjab and Haryana High court, real estate giant DLF in Gurgaon
