The Hindu : Front Page : BDA plans to focus more on apartment complexes

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Tuesday, Jan 04, 2011
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BDA plans to focus more on apartment complexes

Sudipto Mondal

‘The move will contain unbridled horizontal growth of city'

— file photo

New approach: The BDA plans to adopt a public-private-partnership model for the apartment complexes.

BANGALORE: The city is poised to grow skyward with the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) planning a major policy shift to build more multi-storeyed apartment complexes.

The traditional slant in favour of sites is evident from the fact that the BDA has built only 3,744 flats while allotting nearly 1.4 lakh sites since its inception in 1976.

Terming the traditional approach as “untenable” in a market where prices are rocketing skyward, BDA Commissioner Bharat Lal Meena said: “We want to have fewer sites and substantially increase the number of flats in future layouts to benefit middle and lower income groups.”

He explained that such a move would also contain the unbridled horizontal growth of the city.

Speaking to The Hindu on Monday, Mr. Meena said the shift would be visible in the proposed Kempe Gowda Layout near Magadi Road. He said the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act would be amended to facilitate this shift. Once it becomes law, BDA will mandatorily set aside a chunk of land for construction of multi-storeyed apartment complexes. Sources in the BDA said that the Chief Minister had been briefed about it.

Area of concern

An area of concern is the public-private-partnership model that the BDA plans to adopt. Simply put, the BDA will provide the land and the private partner will construct the building. The builder will be given a portion of the complex which he can sell at any price. The remaining flats will be allotted at “nominal” prices fixed by the BDA.

There is a fear that the private player will make exorbitant gains for negligible investment, while also pushing up market prices for the remaining flats. Given the inflationary trends, the original allottees too might be tempted to sell the apartment. In the process, the core aim of affordable housing may become the biggest casualty.

Responding to this, Mr. Meena said that as the BDA would sell a sizeable portion of the flats, it would be able to keep a tab on the rates.

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