| Delhi Metro acquired excess land: CAG | |
| Press Trust of India / New Delhi July 20, 2009, 10:06 IST | |
Delhi Metro has been rapped by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) for acquiring excess land for implementing the Phase-I of the ambitious new age transport system.
"In nine locations, it was observed that total land acquired was 642,000 square metre, which was in excess of the project requirement by 14 to 354 per cent," the CAG said in its report on the Phase-I of the DMRC.
It added the DMRC has acquired 3.22 million square metre of land for the Phase-I of the project, under which three lines were constructed, but has not maintained location wise data of land used for the project and property development.
The report also said the DMRC finalised lease or concessions for property development at four locations based on one qualified bid received in each case and the amount realised was only 0 to 3 per cent over the reserve price.
The CAG also observed that from the restrictive clause for the land use in the allotment letters, poor response was also because of the "stringent" technical criteria fixed for the process.
"This is evident from the fact that in Seelampur where turnover and net worth criteria were fixed at Rs 60 crore and Rs 25 crore respectively, only one qualified bid was received and the amount realised was just 3 per cent over the reserve price," it said.
"And when the turnover and net worth criteria were relaxed to Rs 35 crore and Rs 15 crore respectively for Khyala and Welcome locations, the amount realised was 32 and 36 per cent, respectively over the reserve prices," the report added.
However, the DMRC said that a committee consisting Commissioner (LD, DDA) along with the Land Development and the Chief Urban Planner of the company concluded that revenues generated through the efforts were in keeping with market trends.
"The market response was government by many factors such as market buoyancy, size and location of the plot, land bank available with the bidders and others. The fact, however, remains that the company had obtained better response by scaling down the stringent technical criteria," the DMRC said.
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