Private players eye posh Parishram flats

Certain private players have shown interest in buying the posh Parishram Apartments near Himmatlal Park for Rs 100 crore. This has also raised questions about some of the schemes of the Gujarat Housing Board (GHB).

A circular has already been issued to the residents of Parishram Apartments, seeking their approval to sell all the 276 flats. The price fixed for the two-bedroom flats is Rs 30 lakhs and above and for the three-bedroom flats it is Rs 40 lakh and above.

If this deal is striked, it will be the first residential scheme of the GHB to be bought entirely by one private player.

As the scheme falls under the Gujarat Housing Board, the land belongs to the government body and is given on lease to the flat owners for 99 years. When contacted, GHB officials said they were unaware of any such development.

"This has never occurred before," said a senior GHB official, adding that any changes in the design of the scheme was considered illegal without prior approval of GHB.

"So even if any developer buys it and wants to construct something else he will have get a no-objection certificate from us," he said. The government will also have to make certain changes in the present rules which is not easy, he said.

"Even in that case the land will still be given to the developer on lease," the official further added.

Indravadan Anandkar, secretary of Parishram Apartments, said, "We have received offers from two parties and have issued a circular to all the residents for their approval."

When asked to name the parties, he said, "We were approached by some brokers so we do not know for real who are behind it."

Manishi Jani, a resident of Parishram Apartments, said, "Parishram is a self-financed scheme and we have not purchased in a subsidised rate or in installments."

According to sources, developers have also shown interest in other housing societies, including Sangh Mitra, Anand Vihar and Vidyanagar, which are near Parishram.