After delay, 3 Gurugram Global City sites up for auction - Hindustan Times
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After delay, 3 Gurugram Global City sites up for auction

By, Chandigarh
Mar 14, 2023 12:47 AM IST

The e-auction of three land parcels of Gurugram Global City aggregating 142.52 acres will be held on May 19. The last date to register as a bidder is May 1. The project is envisioned to come up on about 1,000 acres of Khandsa, Narsinghpur, Mohammadpur Jharsa, Garauli Khurd and Garhi Harsaru in Gurugram.

The Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC), after some delay and a faux pas over litigious land parcels, has invited bids for the auction of three mixed land-use sites for the ambitious Global City Project in Gurugram. The e-auction of three land parcels aggregating 142.52 acres will be held on May 19. The last date to register as a bidder is May 1. The project is envisioned to come up on about 1,000 acres of Khandsa, Narsinghpur, Mohammadpur Jharsa, Garauli Khurd and Garhi Harsaru in Gurugram.

Global City is aimed at being developed as a futuristic city within a city, providing walk-to-work culture and state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities. Mixed land-use involved planning of compatible uses on a real estate development project combining commercial, residential, institutional, offices and recreational functions. (Gurugram Global City website)
Global City is aimed at being developed as a futuristic city within a city, providing walk-to-work culture and state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities. Mixed land-use involved planning of compatible uses on a real estate development project combining commercial, residential, institutional, offices and recreational functions. (Gurugram Global City website)

HSIIDC officials said three land parcels of 78.53 acres, 23.76 acres and 40.23 acres each have been put up for the first e-auction. The reserve price for the 78.53- acre land parcel is about 4,957 crore while it is about 1,298 crore for the 23.76-acre parcel and about 1,562 crore for the 40.23-acre land parcel.

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The state government had in 2017 accorded in principle approval for redesignation of about 1,000 acres of Global City project land as a special zone, to be developed as a mixed land-use entity, in the published final development plan of Gurgaon-Manesar Urban Complex, 2031, with a provision of 300 floor area ratio. Officials said that Global City is aimed at being developed as a futuristic city within a city, providing walk-to-work culture and state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities. Mixed land-use involved planning of compatible uses on a real estate development project combining commercial, residential, institutional, offices and recreational functions.

Launch delayed due to litigious status of land

The auction, however, has been delayed by a couple of months following a gaffe by the HSIIDC, the state-owned public-sector enterprise implementing the project.

While chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had led a state delegation to United Arab Emirates (UAE) in October last year to market the ambitious project, the corporation belatedly woke to the reality that acquisition of 1,000 acres earmarked for the project was under challenge in three separate writ petitions before the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC).

Subsequently, two HSIIDC officials – a general manager and a manager looking after legal matters – were placed under suspension by the managing director for not doing due diligence in apprising the state government about the litigation on the land.

The board of directors of the corporation in November decided that sites for the global city project will be floated and put up for e-auction after the vacation of status quo orders by the HC.

Decks were cleared for the launch of the project in January 2023 as the three writ petitions challenging the acquisition of land were disposed of as “not pressed and withdrawn” by the HC. The three petitions were filed by former Congress (now BJP) leader Kuldeep Bishnoi; Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader Ajay Chautala, who is the father of Haryana deputy CM and industries and commerce minister Dushyant Chautala; and gram panchayat of Gharauli Khurd.

The HC had in 2016 ordered stay on the acquisition of the land parcels in Gurugram on which the about 1,000 acres Global City project is proposed to come up.

The petitioners had challenged the acquisition of the land in question, which was initially proposed to be utilised for a joint venture special economic zone by HSIIDC and Reliance Ventures Ltd. The acquisition was challenged alleging that 1,383 acre of Gurugram land which was acquired by the state government for public purpose was transferred to a joint venture company M/s Reliance Haryana SEZ Ltd (RHSL) and therefore the acquisition is illegal.

Since certain petitions were filed by land owners seeking relief under Section 24(2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, the three petitions were tagged with them. As the issues with regards to the interpretation of Section 24(2) of RFCTLARR Act were pending before the Supreme Court, the HC in 2016 adjourned these cases sine die till the SC decision and directed the parties to maintain status quo regarding possession.

The corporation filed applications in the HC seeking vacation of stay, stating that that land transferred to RHSL has been reverted to the corporation. The SEZ project was shelved in 2014 and a conveyance deed of the land was executed in favour of HSIIDC on August 29, 2014, by RHSL for reversion of land to HSIIDC.

While the petition filed by Ajay Chautala was permitted to be withdrawn by the HC on November 15, 2022, the petition by Bishnoi was disposed of as “not pressed” by the HC on November 21, 2022 after the counsel for the petitioner made a statement at the bar that he has instructions not to pursue it. The petition by gram panchayat of Gharauli Khurd and others was disposed of on January 19, 2023.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Hitender Rao is Senior Associate Editor covering the state of Haryana. A journalist with over two decades of experience, he writes on politics, economy, migration and legal affairs with a focus on investigative journalism.

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