A series of meetings held after the special DDA committee made its recommendations finalised the rate at which DDA would buy 333 flats to bail out the cash-strapped developers of Commonwealth Games Village, a DDA official said.

On Monday, DDA had announced that it would pay Rs 11,000 per square feet to acquire the flats, which the developers are finding difficult to sell amid the slowdown. The DDA’s rate is 13 per cent higher than the price per flat recommended by the agency’s own committee to finalise the prices: Rs. 9,382 to Rs 9,720 per sq feet.

A day on, a DDA official who was closely involved with the negotiations told Newsline: “The issue was discussed at various meetings between representatives from the DDA, the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, the Ministry of Urban Development and Emaar-MGF before we finally arrived at Rs 11,000 per sq ft.”

DDA officials are tightlipped about the 13-per cent jump from the recommended price but the official said the final price takes into account “not just the cost of construction but also the overall development of the project” and its “location”. This, the official said, includes facilities such as “parking lots, development of the greens, 100 per cent power back-up, central air-conditioning, swimming pool and club facilities”.

H K Dhawan, general manager of National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC), was on the panel of the four-member committee that recommended the rate to DDA. He said, “When we were asked to fix a rate, our scope of reference was to arrive at a cost based on prevailing market rates. We were also to take into account the cost of construction by Emaar-MGF and the prestigious nature of the project. We did that but these were just recommendations — the final decision was up to the DDA.

... contd.