BENGALURU: The notification issued recently by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) for 5,000 sites in the Nadaprabhu Kempe Gowda Layout is clearly not going to get the kind of response it generated last year. A host of factors are at play - farmers selling allotted BDA sites directly to public, the impact of demonetisation, and a lack of interest in obtaining seniority status from BDA as this could be its last layout.
BDA had issued a notification on December 28, 2017 on its website and in newspapers, calling for applications for the sites in KG Layout. The deadline is February 9.
“Around 1,000 applications have been sold through banks in the five days following the notification. We are expecting a minimum of around 15,000 applications overall,” said highly placed BDA sources.
BDA had received 31,349 applications for the first phase of 5,000 sites for KG Layout following its advertisement in November 2016.
Asked about the reasons why the expectation had been pegged at only half the number this time, a source said, “Farmers who had to surrender their land to BDA to facilitate the development of Kempe Gowda Layout were handed over 2,600 out of the 5,000 sites allocated to them as part of compensation. Under one of the compensation packages, farmers would be handed over 40 per cent of the developed sites while BDA will retain 60 per cent. Many farmers who are allotted sites have opted to sell them.”
Elaborating on the problem, the source said, “It now feels as if farmers are competing with the BDA in the same area by running a parallel real estate business.”
There are two disadvantages this poses for the BDA. “A BDA site cannot be sold by a buyer unless a 10-year lease period after purchase date is completed. But if you buy it from the farmers, there are no such conditions. So, some buyers prefer a BDA site from a landowner,” he said.
Sometimes, the rate offered by a few landowners in distress is lesser than what BDA can offer. “If it is `100 per square foot, then it would work out to be a substantial sum saved overall,” the source added.
Stating that KG Layout was almost likely to be the last layout to be developed by BDA (barring another round of notification of sites here), the official said, “Hundreds of people apply for a BDA site as the application will count towards seniority when they try their luck for a BDA site if not allotted this time. But now, it is an open secret that it will be BDA’s last layout,” the source said. The impact of demonetisation still lingers, he added.
Quicker application scrutiny
BDA Commissioner Rakesh Singh has mandated that the long period of nearly six months spent in scrutinising applications in the previous notification for Kempe Gowda Layout should not be repeated this time, said an official. “We have asked banks to despatch the filled up applications on a weekly basis rather than at one go towards the end as was done last time.
Banks have also been asked to carry out data entry work for the applications. So, we will get the soft copy too once a week,” he said. Three more banks, Axis Bank, Yes Bank and Syndicate Bank have this time joined the regular five banks where BDA applications for sites are sold and collected, the official said.