Sites, a gold mine for BDA!

Sites, a gold mine for BDA!
Deccan Herald

Land or a gold mine! Believe it or not, the cost of a square feet of land in Rajajinagar is Rs 27,416! The BDA got a whopping Rs 1.05 crore by selling a small piece of property (398 sq ft) in the area.

The property which got BDA more than a crore is a commercial corner site located opposite Vidyavardhaka Sangha in Rajajinagar I N Block.

The BDA auctioned nine sites - commercial corner, residential intermediate and residential corner sites - in Rajajinagar I N Block, West of Chord Road 4th Stage, 4th Block, West of Chord Road 3rd Stage and 2nd Block and Rajajinagar 5th Block on Monday and earned a fortune.

Aware of the prices, the BDA had fixed the reserve price (during the auction, the bid should start from this price) at Rs 4,182 per sq ft. From these sites, the BDA earned Rs 4.9 crore.

BDA Commissioner M N Vidyashankar says: “The price we got for the Rajajinagar property is unusual and came as a surprise. But the prices are not less than Rs 4,200 per sq ft in the area.”

He refuses to divulge the total number of sites the BDA has, but only says that most of the auctioned properties are those recovered from the land mafia.

“Sites are our asset. Of the total properties we auction, 80 per cent will be recovered properties, while the rest will be sites.”

To get good prices for sites, Vidyashankar observes: “We adopt ‘Wait and sell’ approach. The more the wait, better the prices. The HSR Layout was developed in 1997, but we are selling the sites now as we are sure of getting a good price.”

BSK, upmarket area

Banashankari is a happening place, if we can conclude based on the revenue earning capacity of shops. Each shop (266.31 sq ft) in the BDA Complex at Banashankari earns Rs 38,500 per month. Where as, the BDA’s earnings per month from a shop is only Rs 5,200 in R T Nagar, Rs 5,900 in RMV extension and Rs 6,700 in HBR Layout.

BDA has 12 complexes, each with more than 40 shops, in the City. The shops are rented out for five years. The rent is fixed after auctioning. “We get around Rs 8 crore to Rs 9 crore rent annually from these complexes,” says Vidyashankar.

On December 14, the BDA is auctioning residential corner sites in HRBR 2nd Block, RMV II Phase and HIG Colony of Lottegollahalli.

BDA LAND

398.12 sq ft of land sold at

Rs 1.05 crore

A sq ft of land in Rajajinagar,

Basaveshwarnagar and Koramangala costs a minimum of Rs 4,200

Rent for a shop per month in

Banashankari BDA Complex -

Rs 38,500, R T Nagar - Rs 5,200

and RMV extension - Rs 5,900.

One of the main sources of income for BDA is through the sale of sites