To generate revenue, civic body eyes sale of commercial properties

Ludhiana: The fund-starved civic body is now eyeing sale of its commercial properties lying in various areas of the city to generate revenue. As per sources, officials are getting the rates fixed for the properties so that auction could be organised by the civic body. The properties are commercial in nature, and officials are hopeful that they will find buyers for these properties."They have selected 65 shop-cum-offices for auction in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar opposite Keys Hotel. At this site, already some of the SCOs were auctioned by the officials, and they generated a good amount from the bidders. Similarly, one commercial site (268.44 square yards) near Kailash Cinema Chowk, 10 shops in Bearing Market near Jagraon Bridge, and one commercial property (653 square yards) in Jamalpur Awana have been identified. One commercial site (314.16 square yards) is selected in Pratap Singh Wala at Hambran Road. In its annual budget for fiscal year 2026-27, also the civic body has fixed a target worth Rs 50 crore from sale of properties," said a source. While requesting anonymity, one senior civic official shared that they have not organised any auction for many years in the past, so apart from selecting properties for auction, they are comparing the rates fixed by Ludhiana Improvement Trust and Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority. He said they will fix the rates on the basis of auctions done by other departments. He claimed that the basic purpose is to find maximum revenue for the commercial chunks of the civic body and generate revenue.Land chunk lacks wide roadCivic body officials are getting the Jainpur site cleared of legacy waste through bioremediation, and there was a plan to sell this chunk to the buyers. But this chunk is surrounded by some other properties and this land lacks a wide road. The civic body is now trying to get amendment done in the master plan. Officials, however, claimed that it is not possible to get a wide road for this chunk, as nearby land is already sold and for for some, even NOCs have been issued.