‘No objection’ over ministers’ housing, state secretariat
RANCHI : A central team, which visited Jharkhand on Friday to review various ongoing urban development projects in the state, has “no objection” over proposed housing projects for ministers and state secretariat, state government officials claimed.
Ranchi parliamentarian Deepak Prakash and mayor Asha Lakra on February 3 had met Union minister of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) Hardeep Singh Puri, raising their objections over the proposed projects.
“We had opposed the change in plan of Smart City. The state government has proposed to build ministers’ bungalows on the land where the skill development park was proposed, which is an important part for the skill development mission,” Lakra said.
The central team, led by secretary
Durga Shankar Mishra and joint secretary Amrit Abhijat of MoHUA, has reportedly raised the issue before officials of state urban development department during the review meeting.
State urban development department secretary, Vinay Kumar Choubey, said, “We placed our points and they had no objection to it. Actually, we have not abolished the plan for
developing a skill development park. We have just shifted the plan to another land, as the state secretariat is more important than the park.”
He said there are 70 plots being put up for auction and one plot was for skill development park, which was to be developed by private player. However, investors were not showing interest in it. Therefore, now 69 plots will go for auction, he said. “The plan for skill development park was shifted to another land,” Choubey said.
Under the Smart City project, Ranchi Smart City Corporation Limited (RSCCL) is developing state-of-the-art urban infrastructure on 647.08 acres of land on campus of Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) Limited. The state government bought the land from the ailing public sector enterprise of the Centre.
Of the total land acquired, 375 acres have been separated to be put up for auction. However, currently only 278 acres of land is being put up for e-auction. In a bid to woo investors, the state urban development has also slashed construction bank guarantee from 25% to 10% for residential plots.
The central team expressed satisfaction over progress of Smart City mission. Officials concerned were asked to present it as a model and develop such concepts in other cities too.