DDA Awaits Approval For Launching New Housing Scheme

New Delhi: The Delhi Development Authority's new housing scheme with 12,000 flats on offer is likely to be rolled out very soon, as the DDA has completed formalities and sent the proposal to the Lt Governor for his nod.

Out of the total number of flats, most of them in Rohini, Dwarka, Narela, Vasant Kunj and Jasola, 10,000 unoccupied flats are from the 2014 scheme, while the rest are other flats which have been lying vacant.

"We have completed all formalities from our side and the proposal has been sent to the L-G for the final nod. So, we are awaiting his response. If the L-G asks for some changes, we will effect them, otherwise the scheme stands the same," an official source said.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, also chairman of the DDA, had instructed senior officials in April to ensure that adequate public transport connectivity and other necessary basic infrastructure were available before the roll-out of the new scheme.

Early last month, the housing authority had said the scheme would be launched soon after the completion of the MCD polls.

The municipal polls were held on April 23. However, the new local government in all three corporations is yet to take charge.

The urban body has tied up with 10 banks for sale of application forms and scheme-related transactions.

"Eight banks we had roped in earlier and recently two more were added, i.e., ICICI Bank and Canara Bank. The other eight banks are -- Axis Bank, Yes Bank, IDBI, Bank of Baroda, Central Bank, SBI, Kotak Mahindra and HDFC," a senior official said.

The scheme was earlier planned to be launched in February but ancillary infrastructure work, like building of connecting roads and installation of street lights, had stretched the timeline.

The official said this time the DDA only wants genuine buyers to apply and check market speculation. 

"So, we have done away with the provision of surrendering of flats. And, this means if the buyer later seeks to surrenders the flat, he will have to forfeit the registration fee of Rs 1 lakh or Rs 2 lakh depending on the nature of flat.

"People are free to visit the areas where the flats are being offered before making up their mind. We have also removed the lock-in period clause, as we realised, this was also a factor in buyers surrendering the flats. This is also to keep a check on those elements who do market speculation," he added.

Both husband and wife can apply for the scheme but if both are alloted flats, one of them would have to give up the property.

Sources said most of the flats are one-bedroom LIG (Lower Income Group) flats from the last housing scheme and no new flat is on offer this time.

"About 10,000 are LIG flats from 2014 DDA scheme. Unlike EWS (Economically Weaker Section) category last time, in this scheme there would be no such category," the official said.

For LIG category, the registration fee will be Rs 1 lakh while for MIG (Middle Income Group) and HIG (Higher Income Group) it would be Rs 2 lakh.

"Application forms will be available both online and off line," he said.

From application to refund, the DDA this time has planned to make the scheme an online affair to reduce long queues of flat buyers at its headquarters.

Scheme 2014 offered 25,040 flats across categories, with prices ranging between Rs 7 lakh and Rs 1.2 crore.

The online response was so massive that DDA's official website had crashed soon after the launch. The one-bedroom flats were offered in Dwarka, Rohini, Narela and Siraspur areas.

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