ISLAMABAD, Sept 1: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has revised rates of land in Diplomatic Enclave to bring them on a par with the price of land being charged from Pakistani missions abroad, documents obtained by Dawn showed.

According to the documents, the foreign affairs ministry was not satisfied with the price of land being offered to the foreign missions in the area.

Following the ministry’s directives, the CDA board has set the revised price of land in the Diplomatic Enclave at Rs15,000 per sq yard.

The authority allots plots to the foreign missions on the latter’s requests, that are received through the foreign affairs ministry.

According to the CDA policy, the land in the Diplomatic Enclave is allotted at a reserved price or on the basis of the rate charged from Pakistani missions abroad.

The documents stated that the reserved price of land was updated from time to time, and during November 2000, a rate of Rs9,500 per sq yard was approved by the CDA board. The rate was further increased to Rs14,250 per sq yard.

The foreign affairs ministry was informed about the revision made in the rates, however it observed that the new rates were too meagre.

The CDA board agreed that the rate of Rs15,000 per sq yard suggested by the ministry was reasonable because the services being provided by the authority to the foreign missions in the enclave had now become expensive.

The board observed that the revision of rate could help narrow the gap between the CDA receipts and expenditure.