BJP bats for lowering of conversion charges for Delhi shopping

Delhi BJP today urged the Centre to decrease the local conversion charges for shopping centres in the national capital.
According to BJP, various private parties have constructed shopping centres in the city with a provision for shops on the ground floor and residential accommodation in the upper storeys.
With time, the people residing in such buildings shifted out and the vacant floors were used for commercial purposes. Today, there are 15,000 such shops in Delhi on which depend the livelihoods of thousands of families.
"In 2012, the then Congress government had fixed conversion charge at the rate of Rs 89,094 per sq.M for these shopping centres, which comes to about Rs 2 to 3 crore for an ordinary shop.

"That is more than the market value for such shops at most locations. The sword of sealing (sic) is hanging on these shops due to non-payment of this charge," said Delhi BJP chief, Satish Upadhyay.
In a letter to Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu, Upadhyay called for the Centre to decrease the conversion charge to Rs 6,136 per sq.M, which he said was equivalent to the conversion charge for commercial use of private houses in the colonies connected with these markets.
Meanwhile, stressing on the need to speed up the party's membership campaign, Upadhyay said that BJP leaders in Delhi should connect the membership drive and 'Swacchta Abhiyan' with local RWAs and traders' bodies.

"The membership and cleanliness campaigns provide an opportunity to BJP workers to directly connect with the people... If the voters are impressed with the party's work, then they shall become members of BJP," he added.