New Express City underway by replacing NRI City in Noida
country’s biggest land deal for a township project to be built on 340-acre of land

EXPRESS CITY : 340 ACRE LAND UNDER HAMMER, EXPECTED TO FETCH RS 3,000 CR TO RS 5,000 CR

Mega land auction begins in Noida

New Delhi, May 1, 2006
Express News Service

In what is touted as the country’s biggest land deal, the Noida Development Authority today opened the technical bids for a township project to be built on 340-acre of land in sectors 96,97 and 98.

With heavyweights like DLF, Unitech and Parsvanath already placing their bids, the deal is expected to fetch between Rs 3,000 crore and Rs 5,000 crore.

The project called Express City, underway since the last two years and earlier called NRI City, is being built under the group housing scheme.

Meanwhile, the Authority’s decision to sell off three sectors to private builders has sparked off protests from villagers and local BJP MLA Nawab Singh Nagar who stormed the office of CEO, Noida Authority, Sanjiv Saran, in sector 6 while the bidding was on.

“Till now, the Authority would develop plots and then sell them to builders for development under allotment schemes. In this deal,. they are selling huge chunks of land to private builders that could lead to a monopoly of a few big construction firms,” he said.

Also, the mega deal would mean villagers losing at least 50 per cent of the properties reserved by the Noida Authority for those whose agricultural land is acquired by them. “Once private builders buy this property, the land will no longer belong to Noida Authority and this means that the reservations meant for us (the villagers) would not be valid,” said Devi Damak of the Garhi Gram Panchayat.

According to Saran, only the technical bids were opened today. “We will scrutinise the bids we have received today, and open the financial bids soon,” he said, adding that the demands of the villagers will be considered.

“We will open the financial bids in a few days, but will definitely discuss the demands of the villagers in the board meeting before a final decision is taken,” he said.

Builders in the industry, however, fear the deal would eventually lead to a huge hike in property prices in the area.

“The strict conditions for bidding will lead to only a few big groups getting to participate in the auction. thereby leading to a monopoly of sorts,” said MS Aggarwal, of MSX Developers that has been involved in developing townships in Greater Noida.

“Greater Noida has huge potential and monopoly of a few builders will leave the smaller builder with no choice,” he added.

Abdul Bari of Majestic Properties Developers involved in the construction of several malls in the NCR, too, feared that the prices of flats would escalate owing to this deal.

“In the adjoining sector 44, a flat is priced at Rs 40 lakh; the prices will be higher in this township. Where will middle income groups go?” he asked.

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