Land prices in SBS Nagar tumble

In what may be termed as the direct fallout of the Ludhiana City Centre "scam", land prices in Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar, where it is situated, have dipped.

According to real estate agents operating in this area, ever since reports of gross financial irregularities have appeared in the media, nobody has shown interest in purchasing land in this area.

And since September 16, construction work at the Rs 3,000-crore Ludhiana City Centre has stopped. It may be mentioned here that prices of land in SBS Nagar had doubled after the announcement of the City Centre Project.

Prices further shot up by another Rs 1,000 per square yard on the day construction work started.

According to the real estate agents, at present, land prices in SBS Nagar vary from Rs 10,000 to Rs 16,000 per square yard depending upon the size and location. Before the clearance of this project, land prices were almost half of what they are today.

Besides, the demand for plots had also increased drastically after announcement of City Centre project.

Taranjit Singh of J K Property Consultants told Business Standard that during the last few days, the land prices of property near City Centre site had dipped by at least Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 per square yard, depending upon the situation of land.

"Generally, on daily basis, people contact us for purchasing land in SBS Nagar area but surprising since Tuesday morning, not even a single person has approached us," he said. adding that he himself was not suggesting any buyer to invest there.

"The sale purchase activity in area will obviously come to a standstill till the time a clear picture on status of City Centre project emerges," Narinder Pal Singh, owner of Neel Gagan Property Dealers in SBS Nagar said.

Also those settled abroad, who had invested crore of rupees in Ludhiana City Centre project, are worried.

"After the media exposed the financial irregularities in the project, NRI's, who had made hefty investments, are making desperate calls to know the fate of the project," said a Real Estate agent operating from SBS Nagar.

In last seven years, it is for the sixth time that City Centre Project has got embroiled in a major controversy.