New Delhi: In July 2022, Lieutenant Governor (L-G) V.K. Saxena posted on Twitter, now X, that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is reeling under liabilities that have exceeded Rs 10,000 crore, while noting that it was due to mismanagement on part of the land-owning agency.
“While DDA are owners of one of costliest & largest chunk of real estate in the world, mismanagement has led to its liabilities exceeding Rs 10k Cr. Let’s resolve to make DDA viable,” Saxena wrote in his post.
More than a year on, senior DDA officials have said that the figure has seen no reduction and, in fact, increased slightly, adding that the liabilities arose due to the vast stock of unsold housing inventory.
To be sure, the figures provided by the L-G include loan liabilities in five years (2016-17 to 2021-22) at Rs 8,915 crore, while the total cash deficit stood at Rs 3,209.14 crore (as of 2021-22).
“The only way to clear these liabilities is by clearing the unsold housing inventory. We have fixed the revenue target at Rs 4,600 crore for an upcoming housing scheme. If achieved, this will reduce the burden,” said a senior DDA official.
Put simply, the agency has been left with a pile-up of 16,000 unsold houses, while another 24,000 are yet to be put on sale, according to senior officials.
While the upcoming scheme, under which 20,000 flats will be up for sale, is likely to be launched in November, the agency has implemented a host of changes in its approach, including the removal of a clause that prevented those who owned a flat or plot in Delhi from participating in the regular housing schemes.
The relaxation in housing regulations and trying a new approach stems from the fact that all regular DDA housing schemes since 2014 have received a poor response, leaving a major chunk of the flats unsold. For instance, in December 2021, of the 1,353 flats on offer in Jasola, Dwarka, Vasant Kunj, Rohini and Narela areas, only 860 flats were sold, said officials.
“The liabilities have also slightly increased over the past year, but we are hopeful of achieving the target that we have fixed for the upcoming scheme. If things go according to plan, there will be a considerable reduction (in liabilities),” said another senior DDA official.
ThePrint reached an official at the Lieutenant Governor’s secretariat for a comment. This story will be updated if and when a response is received.
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Advantage Dwarka
The first senior DDA official explained that while the upcoming housing scheme will include flats in Dwarka, Loknayak Puram and Narela, the agency is primarily confident about selling out houses in Dwarka, given its location. The inventory will include 14 luxury penthouses, 946 higher income flats (3 BHKs), and 117 super HIG flats with quarters for help, all of which are based in Dwarka’s Sector 19-B.
“We might not see a similar response in Narela, and a majority of the unsold inventory is based there. And the reasons are well-known. It’s mostly due to connectivity, and Narela is one place that will start appealing to buyers only in the future,” said the official.
The second DDA official explained that over the past year, the authority’s ‘first come, first serve’ scheme, which involves the sale of its previously unsold flats on a priority basis, has shown a lot of promise.
The official noted that the agency is hopeful of a better response primarily due to the relaxations in housing regulations, along with the agency having roped in a real-estate consultant to conduct a study to help improve its approach.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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