VISAKHAPATNAM: The sound of a bell at the end of the two-day auction of layouts in 13 layouts of Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) on Sunday turned out to be music for the ears of VUDA officials.
The auction fetched a whopping `30.12 crore for the urban development authority which has been starved of funds for long and is likely to set a new benchmark for land sales in the city.During the two-day auction, which was an extension for the one conducted last Sunday, the VUDA successfully sold 40 of the 64 plots in 12 different layouts in addition to 41 of the 44 plots in Sontyam layout.
There was a good demand for plots in Cyber Valley and Adibhatla layouts with a plot in Cyber Valley getting the highest price of `24,137 per sq.yard. Only a handful of plots in these layouts were leftover due to Vastu-related complaints.
In the Sontyam layout, the highest price was `6,200 per sq.yard and the lowest was `2,700 per sq.yard. It may be recalled that the auction of 120 plots in Sontyam layout on June 28 and 29, earned an income of `22.93 crore for VUDA with the plot prices ranging between `4,600 and `8,000. At the end of the auction Sunday, 161 of the 164 plots in Sontyam layout were sold following a huge demand from the bidders.
The officials said that all bidders had paid the mandatory 10 per cent of the property value to the VUDA on the spot and hence, the auction was held in a transparent manner putting both the public and VUDA in a win-win situation.