States » NorthPosted at: Oct 24 2026 10:50PM


GMADA's seven-year-old plot rates under ED scrutiny over alleged Rs 400 crore revenue loss

Chandigarh, Oct 24 (UNI) The allotment of hundreds of residential plots by Punjab's Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) at rates fixed years earlier has come under scrutiny, with an Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation raising questions over an alleged revenue loss exceeding Rs 400 crore to the state government.
The controversy centres on the allotment of 441 plots between 2019 and 2026 under a policy intended to compensate landowners whose properties were acquired for development projects.
The plots were reportedly allotted at Rs 25,000 per square yard, even as rates for 2025-26 had risen to Rs 65,000 per square yard, raising questions about pricing decisions, administrative approvals and the financial implications for the state exchequer.
According to details emerging from the investigation, 100 plots were allotted in IT City's Sector 82 Alpha and 341 in Sector 66 Beta. Another 169 applications remain pending, including 39 in Sector 82 Alpha and 130 in Sector 66 Beta.
The pricing disparity widened as GMADA progressively revised its rates. The rate increased from Rs 25,000 per square yard in 2018-19 to Rs 32,500 in 2021-22, Rs 39,000 in 2022-23, Rs 42,900 in 2023-24 and Rs 51,500 in 2024-25, before reaching Rs 65,000 in 2025-26.
Despite these revisions, allotment letters under the oustee schemes reportedly continued to be issued at the earlier rate.
The investigation has also brought under scrutiny a June 2020 meeting involving senior GMADA and Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority officials, the estate officer and a legal adviser.
The committee had supported charging Rs 25,000 per square yard for eligible applicants under the oustee quota. It also directed that allotment letters be issued within 15 days to successful applicants under the 2013 and 2018 schemes.
However, investigators found that the directions were not implemented within the stipulated period, allowing allotments to continue over subsequent years.
The ED has additionally flagged alleged procedural lapses, including the inclusion of applicants in draws without adequate verification of documents and delays in issuing letters of intent beyond the timelines specified in scheme brochures.
The agency examined records relating to the allotment policy during searches at GMADA's Mohali headquarters in September as part of a wider money-laundering investigation into land transactions and dealings with private developers.
Punjab's Principal Secretary for Housing and Urban Development, Vikas Garg, said he was unaware of the specific issue and would examine it after reviewing the relevant records.
The reported findings raise questions about whether beneficiaries were legally entitled to the original rates and whether subsequent price revisions should have applied to allotments made years after applications were invited.
The distinction is significant because the oustee policy provides plots to landowners affected by government land acquisition, and an increase in prevailing property rates does not, by itself, establish that earlier allotment prices were unlawful.
The Rs 400 crore figure remains an estimated revenue loss cited in the investigation, rather than a judicially established loss.
Separately, the ED has alleged that manipulation of reserve prices for unsold land parcels could have exposed GMADA and the Punjab government to a potential loss of nearly Rs 10,000 crore. That allegation concerns a broader set of land transactions and is distinct from the oustee plot allotments.
The latest scrutiny adds to pressure on GMADA over its land-pricing decisions, with investigators examining whether administrative delays, procedural violations, or improper financial benefits were involved.
No final finding of criminal liability has been established in the Rs 400 crore allotment matter.
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