DDA allows private developers to bid for its land parcels to build housing projects in Delhi.

By Abhay Shah, Realty Quarter

With the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) enabling private builders to negotiate for their property holdings, homebuyers can now expect to buy modern apartments in the national capital.

The DDA has endorsed the distribution of group housing society’s residential plots through e-auction to people, partnership companies, private and public limited or consortium with adequate resources to buy the land and develop the project. The choice was made at a conference on August 13 chaired by Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal.

“All will depend on a developer’s return on an investment after bidding for the land parcel,” a developer said, who didn’t want to be recognized. Experts claim the choice will make sure that apartments are better built, while DDA will proceed to have a bearing on FAR standards and transfer construction plans.

Developers, too, are accessible to the choice, but they claim it will rely on the modalities — the floor area ratio (FAR), the constraints it will entail, and the largest of all land costs that will differ from place to place.

“It should be observed that land accounts for nearly 40% of the price of the project and 60% are the construction price that is uniform in most fields. Buying Delhi land is a costly proposition,” said the promoter.

The builder will need to create group housing in accordance with the 2021 Delhi Master Plan, with 15% of FAR being assigned to community service personnel / economically weaker section (EWS) and low-income residential categories. The component of the EWS will be above and beyond the allowable FAR.

The developer will first have to complete the EWS portion and obtain a certificate of occupancy before obtaining the same for the remunerative portion. A spokesperson for the agency said, before handing over EWS apartments to DDA, the promoter will not hand over possession of other (non-EWS) apartments to anyone.

Real estate specialists greeted the step, stating the DDA should only concentrate on infrastructure development as a regulator.

“It’s a move in the correct way. DDA should increasingly concentrate on facilitating the infrastructure at the city level and enabling private developers to generate residential stocks in line with consumer expectations,” said Ramesh Menon, founding director, Certes Realty.

The DDA could use previous master plans to monetise its land holdings and reinvest in the land pooling industries, he said. The fresh step and the strategy of land-pooling were mutually exclusive, said Menon.

The strategy of land-pooling is a component of the master plan of 2021. Old land banks obtained by the DDA under any master scheme before 2000 are likely to fall under this, specialists said.

The decision will enable private builders to construct homes for any section, an anonymous specialist said. For example, a Noida developer in Delhi could introduce a mid to high-housing product, while others might only build premium flats.

“All will rely on the land’s location and price. Apartments in Vasant Kunj were purchased for nearly Rs 10,000 per square ft in the last DDA run. A personal builder might want to sell it at Rs15,000 per square ft,” the specialist said.

The DDA also nodded on August 13 to an online scheme for the first-come, first-served disposal of 225 commercially built-up properties, a spokesman said.

“Most of these are small stores that small shopkeepers can take over, who may discover it simpler to bring these stores through the online system. These units are in Rohini, Narela, East Zone, West Zone, and South Zone,” said the spokesman.

The system will operate until it disposes of the full inventory. The shop list and other information on the DDA website would be created accessible.