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The tribune DEBATE
asli vs naqli chandigarh — part III
How Punjab’s netas, babus and dalals plotted to make a killing
Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 16
The 15,000-acre New Chandigarh (Mullanpur) project is a veritable realty magic conjured up by its influential protagonists to hard-sell it. Rewind to 2005: 200 bureaucrats form a group housing society in Mullanpur and Shingariwala, The Punjab IAS-PCS Officers Cooperative Housing Building Society. They had a plan.

The land they bought covered over 100 acres, but it fell within the 10km radius of Chandigarh, and violated the Punjab New Capital Periphery Control Act, which prohibits colonisation within the Chandigarh periphery. It would now appear they had Plan-B.

Around that time, land aggregators had already made a killing in Zirakpur and were looking for greener pastures. They had a major sulk: the real estate development on the Banur-Landran Road (in Mohali) had failed to attract a hype as originally anticipated. Mullanpur, because of its proximity to Chandigarh, was their obvious target.

So, the IAS-PCS officers first sought exemption from Punjab New Capital Periphery Control Act in 2006, arguing that since they were serving in Chandigarh, they should be allowed to have a residential area near the city.

The next task was rather tricky: The two sides had to rope in political bosses (many among them had already bought land at Mullanpur). And thus began the exercise of making a New Chandigarh.

First came the master plan for urbanisation of the area, brought out by the Punjab government in 2007. The rule is when a master plan is made, urbanisation is allowed, the periphery control Act gets invalid. The master plan not just defined the land use in the area, but also gave the population density and set the vertical expansion in Mullanpur.

With the major hurdle of violating the periphery Act being removed with the coming of the master plan in 2007, it was now time to make yet another killing.

Sources in the real estate sector told The Tribune that these politicians and bureaucrats had originally bought land in the early 2000s for Rs 25 lakh per acre. Their profit margin rose to 100% after they sold the land to real estate companies for Rs 50-Rs 60 lakh per acre after the master plan was brought into force. Today, the land prices have shot up to RS 2.5 crore per acre.

Enter the top realtors: Omaxe and DLF and local realtors like Manohar Singh and Sons. While the first builder to enter the scene bought land sold to him by some Mohali-based politicians, the other realtor who launched its project two years ago, was sold the land by a local aggregator from village Dhanaura near Mullanpur and a former bureaucrat.

The Tribune contacted some of the politicians whose names have come up for owning land in Mullanpur for speculative purposes, but they denied owning any land.

Over the past two years, real estate projects in New Chandigarh have attracted huge investments. Rakesh Kerwell, director, north India, DLF, said the renaming of Mullanpur as New Chandigarh, will definitely give a boost to this area. "Development is being planned on the pattern of northern sectors of Chandigarh, with low population density and wide roads. Our project has been a complete sellout, and with the development starting there, we are all set to give possession of the plots by the yearend," he said. It confirmed concerns about why Mullanpur was christened as New Chandigarh.

100% profit

Politicians and bureaucrats had originally bought land in the early 2000s for Rs 25 lakh per acre. Their profit margin rose to 100% after they sold the land to real estate companies for Rs 50-Rs 60 lakh per acre after the master plan was brought into force. Today, the land prices have shot up to RS 2.5 crore per acre.

Khaira's charge

Former Congress MLA Sukhpal Khaira on Tuesday alleged that deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal conceived the New Chandigarh project to give a realty boost to the land owned by the Badals in village Palanpur, about 5km from Mullanpur, but not included in New Chandigarh. "Badals own around 18 acres in village Pallanpur, where he proposes to construct a seven star resort. The urbanization is being done in order to make the resort viable. A six-lane highway is also being constructed up to Siswan, which will make connectivity to the resort faster," he alleged. The MLA also agreed that politicians from all major parties in the state, including the Congress, owned land in Mullanpur and had benefited from the New Chandigarh project.

Sukhbir's defence

Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal rubbished the allegations. “I own land in Palanpur. This was bought almost three decades ago. This land is not even a part of New Chandigarh. It's silly to suggest that because my family owns land in the area, we are going about developing New Chandigarh. With the growth of population, urbanization is the need of the hour. Rather than reaping any individual benefits, we are coming up with regulated development of the area,” he said.