New Delhi, Jun 30 (PTI) The Delhi Development Authority’s new housing scheme, offering 12,000 flats across four income categories, was today launched by Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who said the people of the city should fully utilise the scheme. The draw of the lots is slated to be conducted in the first week of November which would be streamed online. The last date for submitting applications is August 11, senior DDA officials said. Addressing a gathering at the launch event at the Nirman Bhavan, the minister said, “The flats are being offered on a freehold basis. Also, the scheme has been linked with the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana.” “The vision of our government is to provide affordable housing to all by 2022. This is a step in that direction,” he said. The flats are spread across Rohini, Dwarka, Narela, Vasant Kunj, Jasola, Pitampura, Paschim Vihar and Siraspur. Of the 12,000 flats, around 10,000 unoccupied flats are from the 2014 housing scheme, while 2,000 flats have been lying vacant. “Most of the flats are constructed using green technology to reduce carbon footprint. Also, eligible people can avail subsidy under the PM Awas Yojana. I appeal to people in Delhi to fully utilise this scheme,” the minister said. The price of flats range from close to Rs 7 lakh to over Rs 1.26 crore. The four categories of houses are — HIG with 87 flats ranging from Rs 53.52 lakh to Rs 126.81 lakh; MIG with 404 flats ranging from Rs 31.32 lakh to Rs 93.95 lakh; LIG/one-bed room flats numbering 11,197 and ranging from Rs 14.50 lakh to Rs 30.30 lakh; and 384 Janta flats ranging from Rs 7.07 lakh to Rs 12.76 lakh, the housing authority said. Even before the official launch of the scheme late afternoon, queue had begun to build up at the sale counter of the DDA’a headquarters at Vikas Sadan. “I live in south Delhi and I came here early after knowing about the scheme launch today. This is the first time I would be applying for a DDA scheme. The staff are saying the sale would begin after the formal launch of the scheme by the minister,” said Kapil, who stood in a queue in the Sadan’s lobby. The urban body has tied up with 10 banks for the sale of application forms and scheme-related transactions. The banks are Axis Bank, Yes Bank, IDBI, Bank of Baroda, Central Bank, SBI, Kotak Mahindra, HDFC, ICICI and Canara Bank. The housing authority had set mid-June as the target date for the launch of the scheme, which was earlier slated to be announced by February. But ancillary infrastructure work, such as construction of connecting roads and installation of street lights, had stretched the deadline. DDA vice-chairman Udai Pratap Singh said this was the 46th scheme being launched by the housing authority. “Till 2022, we plan to build 20,000 flats per year to meet the requirements of people in the national capital,” he said. Naidu said that providing affordable housing was the vision of the government and “one lakh new houses would be built by 2022”. “Provision for reservation has also been made in different categories — SC (15 per cent), ST (7.5), war widows (1), persons with disability (3) and ex-servicemen (1 per cent),” he said. Seeking to deter “unserious buyers” and check market speculation, the DDA this time has proposed multi-tiered penal measures. “If a prospective buyer surrenders his application before the date of draws, no money will be deducted from his or her registration fee. If a buyer does so after the draw but before the issue of a demand letter, 25 per cent of the registration fee will be forfeited,” another official had earlier said. If the flat is surrendered within 90 days of the issue of the demand letter, 50 per cent of the fee would be cut. “Beyond that time period, the entire registration fee will be forfeited,” he said. For the LIG (Lower Income Group) category, the registration fee will be Rs 1 lakh while for Middle Income Group and High Income Group flats, Rs 2 lakh will be charged. “People are free to visit the areas where the flats are being offered. We have also removed the lock-in period clause, as we realised this was also a factor in buyers surrendering flats. This is also to keep a check on those elements who do market speculation,” he said. Under the rules, a husband and a wife can apply for the scheme but if both get an allotment, one of them will have to give it up. The application form costing Rs 200 can be purchased from various partnering banks or Vikas Sadan. “Refund to unsuccessful applicants will be made within 30 days from the date of draw and in case it is not paid in that period, 8 per cent interest per annum would be paid on the application money. The refund would be made through online transaction only,” the DDA said. “Applicants would be allowed to submit a maximum of seven choices for preference of localities in the form. The application can be submitted both online and off-line,” an official said. The 2014 scheme offered 25,040 flats across categories, with prices ranging between Rs 7 lakh and Rs 1.2 crore. The online response was so massive that the DDA’s official website crashed soon after the launch. The one-bedroom flats were offered in Dwarka, Rohini, Narela and Siraspur areas. PTI
