BDA gets govt nod to sell prime CA sites

Private institutions will now be able to buy civic amenity (CA) sites in Bengaluru after the state government allowed the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to sell these much-coveted properties.

The CA sites will be sold to allottees who are willing to buy them at 'sital value', which will be fixed based on the prevailing guidance value. The government hopes to mop up an estimated Rs 3,000 crore from this move.

The BDA allots the sites as per its CA sites rules of 1989, according to which 10% in every layout is reserved for civic amenities.

There are nearly 1,500 CA sites that are leased to different institutions for a 30-year period. Many of the city’s landmark educational and religious institutions are situated on CA sites.

“This is a revenue-generation measure as much as it is a response to the accusation that the lease amount was very high, especially with the 18% interest that we levied,” BDA Commissioner H R Mahadev told DH.

The government has inserted a new rule with which the allotted CA sites “that have been utilised for the purpose for which it is allotted” can be sold. “Only those to whom the CA site has been allotted can purchase,” Mahadev said.

Allottees are required to write to the BDA expressing intent in writing to pay the sital value of the CA site. The sital value will be fixed based on the guidance value, the location of the site, availability of road and other factors. Once sold, no further sale will be allowed without the BDA’s consent.

The move to relinquish ownership of CA sites comes even as the BDA was chasing private institutions to cough up lease dues. In May, the BDA issued a notice to 34 institutions that owed dues.

“Some paid, some haven’t. We have written to the government about this because the government itself said that the interest amount should be reduced or waived off. We have proposed halving the interest portion. In any case, the allottees can purchase the CA site only after they clear dues,” Mahadev said.

Allotment of CA sites has been mired in controversies over the years. In 2012, the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) spilled the beans on some of them that were allotted in violation of the rules and that some were used for purposes other than the ones specified.