By Rajeev Ranjan Dwivedi, IANS,
New Delhi : In a rare decision, the Delhi cabinet Thursday ignored Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna’s suggestion on circle rates of properties — the minimum selling rate for plots — and remained firm on doubling them, government sources said.
The cabinet Oct 12 decided to double the circle rates in the national capital following which the matter was referred to Khanna for his assent. The relevant file was returned by Khanna to the government Wednesday with some suggestions.
The matter again come up before the cabinet Thursday, but the meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit remained firm that the rates should be doubled, the sources told IANS.
The existing circle rates, introduced in 2007 and based on the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) categorisation for various colonies, are: Rs.43,000 per sq metre for category A, Rs.34,100 for category B, Rs.27,300 for category C, Rs.21,800 for category D, Rs.18,400 for category E, Rs.16,100 for category F, Rs.13,700 for category G and Rs.6,900 for category H.
Another source told IANS that Khanna suggested a circle rate of Rs.1.25 lakh and Rs.1 lakh for the categories A and B, while asking that the circle rates of categories E,F,G and H should be decreased.
But the cabinet’s decision Thursday to double the rate would translate to a rate of Rs.86,000 for category A and Rs.68,200 for category B colonies.
On Oct 12, the cabinet revoked its decision taken June 14 for a variable rate hike for different colonies. It cited objections by various colonies for the decision.
The source said that though the notification for the new rates will come into effect from Nov 10, it depended on Khanna on how he saw the decision taken by the cabinet Thursday.
“If he disagrees, then the file can go to union home ministry for a final decision,” the source said, adding that it was a rare move by Khanna to return the file to the cabinet Wednesday.
In his suggestion, Khanna wrote: “The cabinet may reconsider the circle rates for categories A, B and C for suitable enhancement.”
Khanna suggested that the rates of category E,F,G and H colonies should be reduced to Rs.27,500, Rs.21,000, Rs.18,000 and Rs.9,000, respectively, as against the cabinet’s decision to make it Rs.36,800, Rs.32,200, Rs.27,400 and Rs.13,800, respectively.