ROURKELA: When it comes to owning a plot of residential land, Rourkela could give a run to cities like Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, if the latest auction by Rourkela Development Authority (RDA) is any indication.
Auction of residential plots, which ended late in the night on Tuesday, fetched RDA generous volume of revenue. Plots without construction at Gopabandhu Nagar of Chhend Colony were auctioned at a whopping Rs 3,741 to Rs 4,782 per sq ft, a price that would call for deep pockets.
RDA sources informed that two plots of 2,760 sq ft each were sold at Rs 1.32 crore and Rs 1.24 crore against the offset price of Rs 26.13 lakh. A plot of 2,400 sq ft was auctioned at Rs 76 lakh against the offset price of Rs 22.72 lakh. Similarly, plots measuring 1,464 sq ft to 1,564 sq ft were sold at Rs 40 lakh to Rs 58 lakh against offset prices between Rs 13.73 lakh and Rs 14.81 lakh.
Similarly, a plot size of 1,295 sq ft fetched Rs 55 lakh against offset price of Rs 12.12 lakh. Even smaller plots of 700 sq ft sold at above Rs 25 lakh against offset price of Rs 7.10 lakh. The offset prices were calculated after adding additional 10 per cent value to the government’s benchmark prices for a locality.
Rourkela ADM and RDA secretary Aboli Sunil Naravane said 21 plots were notified for auction. However, auctions were held for 17 plots which fetched above Rs 8.69 crore. She further informed that RDA has sought government’s permission to auction some residential plots at Civil Township.
It is learnt that the RDA had notified to auction 31 plots each measuring 3,750 sq ft and one plot of 3,375 sq ft at the posh Civil Township last month. But it was temporarily suspended for technical reason.
The auction rates, locals feel, have raised the price of land in the Steel City which only the rich and affluent can afford. After Odisha State Housing Board auctioned a single plot in the colony in 2009, Chhend resident Bhaskar Patra said, the cost of private land suddenly went up. The latest auction of RDA, by default, has set new price benchmarks of private land.