RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, March 28: Investors so far have not shown interest in Smart City project in Jharkhand capital.
This was reflected from receipt of a limited number of applications reaching the Ranchi Smart City Corporation Limited office before the third phase of auction expected any day.
So far the office has received only 11 applications though there are as many as 41 plots kept ready for auction. The poor result has come despite four investors’ meeting in four major cities of the country including Delhi, Bangalore, Patna and Bhubaneswar.
This is not the first time such a poor response has come. In the first stage of e-auction process concluded on March 9, 2021 last year investors were invited for auction of as many as 51 plots but due to strong condition, e-auction of only 10 plots could be concluded. In the second e-auction held in December last year, one of the 42 plots could be auctioned.
Though officials are happy despite poor response saying after Bhopal, Ranchi is the second smart city among 100 cities, which could pave path of earning of Rs 410 crore in the two stages by auctioning 58 acres divided in 10 plots, an insider said the result could have been better had the size of plots kept for auction been reduced.
“Large plots are the biggest reason for poor response of investors. In Smart City, 66.78 acres of land is earmarked for commercial use and the reserve price is fixed at Rs 13.24 crore per acre. With the size of the plot being large, investors will have to invest a lot of money. That’s why they are asking for a smaller plot. Similarly 61.68 acres of land is earmarked for mixed use. Its base price is Rs 10.14 crore per acre, but plot size being too big, investors are not taking interest in it,” an insider said.
“As many as 9 plots of 58.97 acres have been identified for the education hub in Smart City. Average size of each plot is 6.5 acre while investors are looking for plots of 2 to 3 acres. Similarly there are as many as five 5-acres plots for the hotel. Its cost is Rs 13.24 crore per acre. Whereas investors are seeking land up to 2 acres. In the same way there are 16 commercial plots and its size varies between 6 acre to 12 acre while investors want plots of size ranging between 1 to 2 acres. As far as plots of mixed use are concerned, its number is 14 spread over 62 acres. Its cost has been kept at Rs 10.14 crore per acre. Investors want to change this too,” the insider said presenting data.
