CHENNAI: Till March last year, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) had only made revenue of Rs 2.69 crore (0.65%) as against the expected `419.52 crores from land leased out for various commercial and non-commercial purposes, said K Dhana Sekaran, the accounts committee chairman. Out of the total dues, educational institutions are yet to pay `248.95 crores, he said.
Speaking at the council meeting in the Ripon Building on Tuesday, he said, as per available records, the GCC has leased out 446 properties. From the 201 lands leased out in Wall Tax Road to commercial establishments, the corporation is yet to get Rs 92.91 crore. Pending dues of Rs 45.7 crore from 75 lands for commercial establishments in other areas, Rs 8 crore from residential properties, Rs 3.96 crore from NGOs and Rs 2.75 crore from religious institutions are pending, resulting in substantial losses to the Land & Estates department.
The corporation is also fighting 62 litigations in connection with the leased lands. “Apart from 446 properties on digital records, there are several lands owned by the corporation, for which records are not properly maintained, leading to encroachments,” Dhana Sekaran said.
As for property tax, cheques amounting to Rs 11.78 crore have bounced in the last five years, he added and questioned why the corporation should not initiate legal action in such cases. Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi said most of the lands leased were before 1976.
In 2018, the rates were set at 14% of the guideline value for commercial properties and 7% for non-commercial properties. However, it exceeded Rs 200 crore for some properties and several parties moved to court. Following this, the corporation has sent suggestions to the state government for rationalised rates at the policy level.
Valluvar Kottam flyover: Land acquisition soon
Chennai: The city corporation will soon start acquiring land worth Rs 61.68 crore for the flyover proposed at the Valluvar Kottam Junction. A resolution to this effect was adopted by the corporation council on Tuesday. Of the 10,897 sq m to be acquired, 8,014 sq m belongs to the government. Land in Nungambakkam, T Nagar and Mylapore was proposed to be taken over. The project is estimated to cost Rs 178 crores.