“Our mandate got over after we arrived at the basic price.”

Pricing not inflated, say officials
Dhawan said the rate of Rs 11,000 per sq feet is “fair”. He said besides the “rather luxurious” facilities on offer, “one should also take into account the location, which has a charm of its own and is bound to come at a cost”.

Outrageous pricing is said to be one of the reasons Emaar-MGF found it difficult to sell these flats after the real estate market went into a slide. Their market value for these flats remains Rs 12,500 to Rs 14,500 per sq feet. Asked whether DDA can sell the flats at a rate higher than what it is paying, a second price fixation committee member said: “One cannot really compare this project with others. Being built on a grand scale, this will have much better facilities than any other.”

Taking the example of the Asiad Village in South Delhi, the member said, “Then, too, the flats were priced at a rate much higher than others, and the rates have only risen over the years. So this is a sound investment.”

But another committee member asked why Emaar would need a bailout “if they could have sold these flats at a high rate”.