Losing the plot

CDA’s return for the auction was a paltry Rs3.6 billion — a far cry from the Rs11 billion it raised earlier this year

The top civic agency of the federal capital has resigned to using auctions of residential and commercial plots as its main revenue generator. However, it seems that the economic downturn across the country caught up with it while it did itself no favours by pulling out some the most coveted plots from the auction at the last minute. The bi-annual, multi-day auction took place this week in Islamabad and early signs were good. The Capital Development Authority (CDA) managed to sell 20 of the 32 residential plots it had put on the anvil. A fair return, given the economic conditions of the country. Next up were commercial pilots, and that is where the alarm bells started to ring. On the first of the two days for auctioning commercial plots, only eight commercial properties were snapped up. None of them was a big-ticket item like marriage halls, hospitals, fuel pumps, industrial plots or the most prime property of all — plots in the upscale Blue Area.

Then on the second day, the CDA seems conspired to shoot itself in the foot. At the last minute, the authority announced that it was pulling 14 out of the total 46 commercial plots on offer out of the auction. The reason cited was that these plots were located in such places that they would impact the newly-devised master plan of the city. The authority said that the plots would be put up for sale again once the master plan was finalised. The damage had, however, been done and the few investors who were there decided to go home. CDA’s return for the three-day auction was a paltry Rs3.6 billion — a far cry from the Rs11 billion it had raised earlier in the year. There is a need for the CDA to go into introspection about its own affairs so as to know where the responsibility for this particular mess lies as well as to make itself less dependent on auctions to secure funding. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27^th, 2019.

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