Now, big realty under Mayawati scanner

After Anil Ambani's proposed special economic zone (SEZ) and land allotments in Noida, all big-ticket real estate projects are being reviewed by the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh.

"The government has decided to probe the land allotments made by the Mulayam Singh government for high-tech cities. These include the projects that Unitech is supposed to develop in Agra and Varanasi, and Ansal Properties in Lucknow," confirmed an official of the state's town and country planning department.

Accordingly, two Unitech projects of 1,500 acres each in and a 1,700-acre project by Ansal Properties are being reviewed.

Sources said the review could include Sahara India's projects (worth 1,784 acres in Lucknow and 1,800 acres in Kanpur), 1,500 acres allotted to Uppal Chadha Group and 1,500 acres to IVRCL.

The Commissioner for Industrial Development in Uttar Pradesh will conduct the reviews.

"I am not aware of this and it is not true," said Sanjay Chandra, managing director, Unitech Ltd. The spokesperson for Ansal Properties only said the company has got all the requisite clearances for its projects in UP.

The development follows Mayawati asking the Centre to not approve the 2,500-acre multi-product SEZ of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group in Noida on the grounds that the SEZ was not on contiguous land and therefore flouted the central government's regulations.

In addition, 14 hotel sites for which Noida had invited bids last year are also under the new chief minister's scanner.

"We are reviewing whether the model code of conduct was breached by the authority or by the bidders," said Monica Garg, the new chief executive officer of Noida.

The code of conduct relates to private parties favouring government authorities and new schemes being launched around election time.