Land grab by other means?

Land grab by other means?
DH News Service, Bangalore:
As the common man grapples with booming property prices, and industries and government departments jostle for space, mass purchase of government land by private developers has become a default target of protesters.

Where land is gold, the government is settling for less. That’s more or less the cross-sectional public take on auctioning of recovered government land. As the common man grapples with booming property prices, and industries and government departments jostle for space, mass purchase of government land by private developers has become a default target of protesters. However, the Revenue Department is countering the charges with a one-point retort: We will have space for all.
The State’s industry representatives seem to have a different take on that. FKCCI President R C Purohit told Deccan Herald that the government, instead of auctioning recovered land, should explore the potential of a land bank. “Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have used the land bank model effectively. Manufacturing industries are avoiding Karnataka and opting for states like Tamil Nadu because we don’t have ready land on offer,” he said.
Some of the City-based real estate industry professionals said the clout of an official-developer lobby had become evident in the first phase of the auctions. “It’s all fixed and the deals involve officials and politicians. The publicity for these auctions has also been minimal, making them an affair for a select few,” Roby Narayanaswamy, a real estate professional, said. He added that the sale of government land would become credible and transparent if the government avoided auctions and went by its own fixed prices.
Transparency with regard to the auction details, including the profile of bidders who turn up at the auctions, has been cited as another issue. There is also a contention that the government could work out an internal formula to decide on land prices, rather than base prices on speculation and let developers call the shots.
“The officials can form teams and assess the ground situation themselves. Right now, the government is being led by fictitious figures projected by vested interests,” said a City-based realty agent.

Auction prices
The Revenue Department has maintained that the expected auction prices are fixed by assessing both the guidance values as well as market values.
On an average, the property guidance value is only about 30-35 per cent of the running market value.
The A T Ramaswamy Committee on land encroachment has advised the government to avoid auctions and recommended the conversion of recovered land for public utilities.
M A Sadiq, Deputy Commissioner (Bangalore Urban District) told Deccan Herald that the government had a clear brief on allotment of recovered land.
While dismissing the low auction prices theory, he said survey numbers that fetched low prices would be re-auctioned.
On utilising recovered land for the public and government departments, he said land had already been zeroed in for housing projects as well as government departments.