Developers make a beeline for Bathinda

Land prices at prime locations of Bathinda district are sky-rocketing. Recently, the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) auctioned a 4.5-acre commercial site in Bathinda for a whopping Rs 184 crore, which was bagged by Delhi-based Best City Developers Pvt Ltd. The per square yard price works out to Rs 84,400 per square yard. The BDA had fixed the reserve price for this site, which has been positioned for multiplex-cum-mall at Rs 135 crore.

Moreover, recently, LIC secured 16, 973 square yard of land in Bathinda in auction by offering Rs 45,100 per square yard as against the reserve price of Rs 30,000 per square yard. The state exchequer managed to get Rs 76.54 crore through the auction process.

Local property dealers are of the view that the recent initiative taken by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is fuelling the real estate growth in Bathinda. They said that the chief minister, along with his son, MP Sukhbir Singh Badal, has laid the foundation stones for as many as 85 projects with a total projected cost of about Rs 300 crore, ever since he came into power.

The projects includes strengthening water supply and sewerage, widening and strengthening of roads, irrigation, 66-KV grid sub-stations and works of Bathinda Municipal Corporation and BDA. According to local government functionaries, some of the projects have been completed and some are in progress, work is yet to start on a number of others.

“There is hardly any space left at prime locations of the city. Further, the land hovers between 10,000 and Rs 35, 000 per square yard depending upon the location,” said a local property dealer.

An official with a private developer echoed similar sentiments. “We are offering land in the range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000 per square yard. As the land prices in the heart of the city is sky-rocketing, we decided to set up our project about 6 km away from the main city.”

Residents are of the opinion that since the city is in the tier-III category, it is very difficult to own a house in the city.

While work on the Rs 18,000-crore Bathinda refinery is underway, the fourth phase of Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant at Lehra Mohabbat is expected to be completed by next year. Further, the state government is in the process of adding 1,980 Mw to its capacity, as it is setting up a thermal plant at Talwandi Sabo, also in Bathinda.

With so many development projects on the anvil, expectation are there that Bathinda would emerge as one of Punjab and North India's major growth centres.