ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) on Thursday concluded the three-day auction of plots, fetching a whopping Rs41 billion against 42 plots.

The civic agency, amid the crippling economic crisis of the country, made a new record of selling plots for Rs41 billion. In the last auction, which was held when the amnesty scheme was in place in 2021, the CDA had fetched Rs37 billion, however, this time around, the civic agency surpassed its own record. “In the three-day auction, we sold 42 plots of various sizes against Rs40.9 billion, which is the highest ever figure,” said a director of CDA.

The civic body official said team effort of the estate, planning and finance wings had made the auction successful.

He said the planning wing played a major role in providing clear plots at the best places with good planning parameters, which were well marketed by the estate wing to get desirable results.

The officials said that CDA had been expecting to fetch Rs20 billion in three days, but surprisingly, the auction received an overwhelming response from investors.

It is relevant to note here that the CDA, being an autonomous body, generated its own funding to meet its development and non development expenditure.

However, the civic agency has no other serious source except its land bank.

“Being a development body, we are supposed to auction plots for growth of the city, however, yes, we will also have to explore some other options for increasing our source of income,” said an official.

He said that CDA should construct some commercial buildings and apartments to rent them out for regular income.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2023