Chandigarh, March 23
After the Chandigarh Administration shelved its proposal to auction prime commercial property in Sector 17, the UT Estate Office has extended the rent lease of its 16 showrooms in Sector 17-E for another five years at a nominal amount of Rs 54,000 per month.
The rent hiked from the previous Rs 39,000 per month is still comparatively less than the rent of around Rs 7 lakh charged for renting out a private showroom in the commercial centre. The rent has been hiked under a working formula that allows the Estate Office to increase the rent by 15 per cent after every five years.
Assistant Estate Officer Rahul Gupta said the lease had recently been extended as per the laid down rules.
Sources said going by the market rentals, the administration was losing lakhs of rupees every year. Collecting the lease money from the allottees of showrooms and booths in the commercial centre was another point of concern for the Estate Office.
Besides, about 50 built-up showrooms and booths in the bridge market were given on lease in early seventies to attract shopkeepers. “At that time the city was being developed and there was need to set up business activity. The showrooms and booths had been given on lease for five years,” said a senior official.
From a few hundreds, the lease money was increased by the Estate Office to Rs 14,000 per month in 1992 and ultimately to the present rent. In the past, all steps by the Administration to realise the increased lease money was met by strong opposition by the shopkeepers.
Acting on a request of the allottees about five years ago, the Estate Office made a proposal to transfer the properties in the name of the allottees for about Rs 2 crore for a showroom. The shopkeepers refused to accept the price, stating that it was too high. They demanded some concession as they were the original allottees and had played a key role in the development of the sector.
The issue raised its head once again when the ground floor of a showroom (SCO 51, Sector 17) was auctioned for about Rs 5 crore. “The total auction price of all three floors, if auctioned, works out to be about Rs 10 crore,” said a senior official in the Estate Office. After the auction, the Estate Office cannot sell any property below the auctioned price. The sources said some of the allottees had either sub-letted their premises or had undertaken major building bylaw violations in the shops.
After the Chandigarh Administration shelved its proposal to auction prime commercial property in Sector 17, the UT Estate Office has extended the rent lease of its 16 showrooms in Sector 17-E for another five years at a nominal amount of Rs 54,000 per month.
The rent hiked from the previous Rs 39,000 per month is still comparatively less than the rent of around Rs 7 lakh charged for renting out a private showroom in the commercial centre. The rent has been hiked under a working formula that allows the Estate Office to increase the rent by 15 per cent after every five years.
Assistant Estate Officer Rahul Gupta said the lease had recently been extended as per the laid down rules.
Sources said going by the market rentals, the administration was losing lakhs of rupees every year. Collecting the lease money from the allottees of showrooms and booths in the commercial centre was another point of concern for the Estate Office.
Besides, about 50 built-up showrooms and booths in the bridge market were given on lease in early seventies to attract shopkeepers. “At that time the city was being developed and there was need to set up business activity. The showrooms and booths had been given on lease for five years,” said a senior official.
From a few hundreds, the lease money was increased by the Estate Office to Rs 14,000 per month in 1992 and ultimately to the present rent. In the past, all steps by the Administration to realise the increased lease money was met by strong opposition by the shopkeepers.
Acting on a request of the allottees about five years ago, the Estate Office made a proposal to transfer the properties in the name of the allottees for about Rs 2 crore for a showroom. The shopkeepers refused to accept the price, stating that it was too high. They demanded some concession as they were the original allottees and had played a key role in the development of the sector.
The issue raised its head once again when the ground floor of a showroom (SCO 51, Sector 17) was auctioned for about Rs 5 crore. “The total auction price of all three floors, if auctioned, works out to be about Rs 10 crore,” said a senior official in the Estate Office. After the auction, the Estate Office cannot sell any property below the auctioned price. The sources said some of the allottees had either sub-letted their premises or had undertaken major building bylaw violations in the shops.
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