This SCO has been purchased by Deepak Land and Developers, a city-based real estate dealer. The GLADA had planned to auction more than 40 sites but after looking at the huge response they got from today’s auction, they have put the auction of the remaining sites on hold.

Around 16 sites on the Samrala Road and behind Vardhman Mill were auctioned. The department, meanwhile, earned the revenue of Rs 39.03 crore against the reserve price of Rs 15.52 crore thus registering 151 per cent growth.

A few other booths located behind the Vardhman Mills were also auctioned against the reserve price of Rs 40,000 per square yard. The highest bid offered was Rs 1.38 lakh. Booths with the reserve price of Rs 50,000 per square yard fetched the maximum bid of Rs 1.06 lakh per square yard.

More than 100 bidders from Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Chennai took part in the auction. Acting Additional Administrator VK Chauhan, Superintending Engineer RK Sharma, Chief Administrator Manashri and Estate Officer Jeet Ram were also present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, officials maintained that property prices in the planned commercial areas are spiralling. They added that people are interested to invest in the approved areas rather than the unapproved areas ,hence, GLADA got an overwhelming response. The areas near the Samrala Road will see a big commercial boom in the times to come, they said.

According to sources in the corporation, the Chandigarh administration is likely to approve an alternative site for the shifting of CITCO’s iron and steel store from the Industrial area (where the hotel is to be set up) to village Hallo Majra. Many big hotel chains and real estate companies are planning to set up big hotels for the high-end tourists. The DLF is already constructing a five-star hotel in the IT Park, while the Uppal Group are coming up with a five-star hotel in Sector 35, Chandigarh.

Top names of Indian real estate have already submitted their expressions of interest for this project. Bids have been invited for development of bus stands at Mohali, Patiala and Bathinda on PPP model. Applicants include DLF Ltd, Gammon Infrastructure, Nagarjuna Constructions, GMR, Unitech, TDI, India Bulls Real Estate, Parsvanath and Omaxe. Bids have also come from far off places like PD Aggarwal Infrastructure Limited (Indore), Akruti City, Oberoi (Mumbai), IDEB (Bangalore) and Bengal Silver Spring (Kolkata).

The name of developer will be finalized by June and construction will be completed in two years. Dr SS Sandhu, Managing Director, PIDB, said, “There should not be any apprehensions about co-existence of a bus stand and a shopping area. If you look at the plan of the project, these are big complexes. There will be separate entries for bus stand and shopping area. People in the mall will not even realize that they are in a bus stand.” Giving the example of Singapore, Dr Sandhu said, “There, the bus stand operates from the basement. Ideally, we would also want the buses to come to the basement, but as of now there are some issues involving ventilations and lightning, so in the first phase we will not go for basement development.”

The bus stand will be fully air-conditioned, have a 100 per cent power back-up and run by the developer for 40 years, who will earn from rentals of shopping mall and bus stand fees. The government plans to develop the new bus stand on the outskirts of the city, primarily to avoid congestion. A case in point is the bus stand in Tel Aviv, Israel. Developed with latest technology in 1990s it was considered world’s largest and most advanced bus stand. However, it proved to be a big failure as its presence in the mid of a residential area caused a lot of congestion. The three bus stands being developed under this plan in the first phase include a green field project in Mohali on a six-acre plot opposite the Verka milk plant, a new bus stand on a 14-acre plot in Rajpura road in Patiala and refurbishing of the existing bus stand at Bathinda.

Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, said, “These are prime locations. We feel that most of our bus stands have been not fully utilized. A bit of imagination and planning can create a win-win situation for the commuters, who can have a modern bus stand, and the government, which can reap big gains.”

City Beautiful, which currently has just one multiplex to boast of, will get a second this week. DLF’s DT Cinemas will open at the Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park (RGCTP) on Friday with Saif Ali Khan-Kareena Kapoor starrer Tashan.

Spread over 1, 90, 000 square feet, the mall (retail brands) will be formally inaugurated on May 1 and Nicknish will be its anchor store. Though nearly fifty-five national and international brands, including French brand Axsara, Lee Copper, Levis, Numero Uno, John Players, Madame, Woodland, Reebok, Turtle and Meena Bazaar, will occupy retail space in the mall, there is little diversity in the retail mix which is mainly apparel.

Café Coffee Day has already been roped in and the food court will be completed within a month’s time. Tie-ups with restaurants are being worked out, DLF officials said.

The mall will have parking space for 250 cars while the three-screen multiplex, projectors for which have come from Christie’s, will have a total of 786 seats. Movie tickets will be delivered at home and people can also reserve tickets through phone, Internet or by sending an SMS.

Also in the pipeline is Uppal’s Centra Mall at Industrial Area-Part 1, which has applied for completion certificate to the Chandigarh Administration and will be operational within three weeks. Spread over 1.25 acres, the mall has a 344-feet glass façade frontage, four state-of-art-auditoriums and a 53-ft high atrium. Uppal Group MD Maneesh Uppal said Café Coffee Day, Reebok, Adidas, Hues, Liliput, Gini and Jhonny and several fashion clothing brands will set up shops in the mall. It will have no anchor store and the group has tied up with PVR for a four-screen multiplex with 1,000 seats.

Coming soon is Paras Downtown Square mall-cum-multiplex spread over 1,50,000 sq ft (the largest so far in Punjab) at Zirakpur. It will have two anchor stores - Big Bazaar and Pantaloons, four-screen multiplex by Adlabs, hypermarket, food court, children’s entertainment centre and a business hotel with gym, spa and coffee shop. Liberty, Reid and Taylor, Nike, Woodland, Provogue, Madura Garments and Jumbo Electronics are likely to set up their outlets here. The project is Delhi-based Paras Group’s realty venture. The group, which has a turnover of Rs 750 crore from its dairy business, has diversified into healthcare, processed water and real estate. Multiplexes are also planned at the sites of Jagat and KC theatres while proposals to convert some of the other theatres are in the pipeline.

According to hotel industry analyst, the total investment being made in the hotel projects by the companies could be anywhere around Rs 1000 crore. Including foreign direct investments, developers like Uppal’s project of developing a five-star hotel in Sector 35 in association with JW Marriott involves an estimated cost of around Rs 250 crore.

Apart from this, Carlson Hotels, in association with ECC Infrastructure, is opening the Radisson Hotel at Zirakpur. Moreover, DLF, in a joint venture with Bharat Hotels, is planning to build a world-class hotel in Chandigarh.

Vipul Ltd, in collaboration with Sarovar Hotels, is coming up with a four-star hotel in Mohali. Sarovar Hotels, in synergy with James Plaza, is coming with James Park Plaza (five-star) which will come up adjacent to the Taj. Other big players from the hospitality sector, like Oberoi and Maurya Sheraton, have also shown interest in setting up hotels in Chandigarh.

Chandigarh, which till a few years back was only considered as a gateway for Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, is being developed as a tourist destination with the efforts of the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation Ltd (CITCO) and the district administration.

With the international airport coming up at Chandigarh and major sports activities like those of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and Indian Premier League (IPL) taking place in the vicinity, the hospitality industry is euphoric and feels that the need for budget hotels and premium hotels is going to mount in the coming days.

With Chandigarh having been placed on the tentative list of World Heritage Sites by the UNESCO, becoming India’s first such city, it is most likely to get an added fillip in its efforts to promote tourism and the hospitality sector.

To be named as Parsvnath Prideasia, the Township will come up amidst Sukhna Lake, golf course, and an upcoming five star hotel. It has saleable residential area of 38.5 lakh square feet and a commercial area of 2.7 lacs square feet.

The township boasts to provide exclusive infrastructure for the setting of facilities, campuses by pioneering IT companies and BPOs. It would be first of its kind project in the region.

Chandigarh is fast developing and has become the most sought after investment destination for companies in India. The city has proactive policies of the administration which are favorable for such investments. The proposed Township will serve as a significant landmark project in the region. To be developed in partnership with Chandigarh Housing Board, it would further strengthen the public private partnership model for development of Chandigarh, says Mr. Pradeep Jain, Chairman, Parsvnath Developers Limited.

Parsvnath Prideasia is scheduled to be ready within a period of 3 years, including the current year. The scheme for allotment for the first phase has opened on September 2 and will go till 21st of the month.

A fast flourishing economy and booming service sector have brought a lot of modifications including an increase in income and purchasing power in smaller towns. Also, the requirement to keep costs under lens is encouraging several corporates to check out ‘B’ cities.

Taking a view at boomtowns of tomorrow, the data for India’s emerging growth centres has come up with 15 cities. They all enjoy low real estate cost, large availability of land for development, big workforce, and increasing quality of life.

There are certain key parameters to judge the growth of any city. It includes its property market, people, physical infrastructure, social infrastructure, and business environment.  Among all the emerging cities, the city that has been witnessing hot real estate trends is Chandigarh. Touted as India’s first planned city, Chandigarh has got top ranking for the potential of its property market, the city is known to have come up to the mentioned criterion.

Chandigarh is undergoing through the boom because of the rapid development taking place on its outskirt areas. Panchkula, Mohali, Dera Bassi, Zirakpur are some of such areas.

Following in footsteps of Chandigarh is Nagpur, a city which has seen fast growth in both commercial and residential real estate. Making efforts to improve the city’s infrastructure, Nagpur has the capacity to transform itself into a much preferred destination, especially in terms of educated manpower, and availability of land for development of large campus.

As far as urban residential property is concerned, its existing collector rates is Rs 19,200 per sq yard and the buyer pays 6 per cent to the Administration on the total value of the property.

Although, the amount of the stamp duty to be paid by the executor of the property deed is largely dependent on the existing collector rates but the UT government is considering increasing the rates soon to bring them at par with the market rates.

The government is also thinking about reducing stamp duty to encourage more and more property enthusiasts. The move will also deter concealment of market value of the property.

However, the government is still waiting for approval from administration. Now, the stamp duty in Chandigarh is the least in the region. Talking about Punjab and Haryana, both the states are charging 6 per cent of the sale deeds.