HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA) has revoked allocation of 80-acre land to Bahria Town under National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) directives over non-payment, despite failing to settle its own massive debts for Gulistan-i-Sarmast housing scheme.

Having secured land within the Gulistan-i-Sarmast housing scheme in January 2015, Bahria Town was committed to constructing a hospital, university, and school. However, the NAB alleges that the developer failed to fully pay for the site, which was acquired for what the anti-corruption body described as a “nominal” sum of Rs383 million.

In the land cancellation letter, the HDA’s director of the Planning & Development Control (P&C) on May 4 stated that the developer was to clear dues for the allotment of land as per condition No-V of the provisional allotment order within three years failing which the allotment shall stands cancelled and payment so made would be forfeited.

He said the HDA in its 121st meeting of July 1, 2025 decided to recover the outstanding dues amounting to Rs826.812m from M/s Bahria Town. The developer didn’t clear the dues despite notice dated April 14,2026 served on him, thus exposing itself to default and guilty of breaching the allotment order’s conditions.

In September 2025, the HDA submitted details of 80-acre land to the NAB Karachi, intimating that Bahria Town owes Rs2,447m to HDA’s 80-acres land. The NAB asked the DG to share details of the record of allotment of the above stated land, including those officers/officials of the HDA who approved the said allotment and the payment made by Bahria Town against the said allotment.

HDA’s paper, containing the land allotment details/process, revealed that the land’s cost was worked out at Rs383m in 2015 though it was not approved by then HDA’s Governing Body. Out of Rs383m, Rs221m were paid by Bahria Town to the HDA. This led to a series of correspondences between the HDA and the construction tycoon.

Later, different charges were added in the cost including 30pc utility charges, 40pc external development charges, revised cost of land and surcharge/penalty. “This has taken the total cost of land to Rs2447.877m.” Such details were shared with the NAB, according to a HDA source.

The now cancelled land of the developer was part of Gulistan-i-Sarmast housing scheme. Its allotment by the HDA was provisional and the NAB was looking into this issue for a long time. It had also probed Gulistan-i-Sarmast [a 2009’s low-cost housing scheme where billions are paid to the HDA in the last several years] but nothing has come out of this probe so far. Housing scheme’s allottees were running from pillar to post since then.

The last findings into the scheme, if any of note, were done by the then divisional commissioner of Hyderabad, Bilal Memon, in 2024 under directives of Sindh Chief Secretary Syed Asif Hyder Shah.

He submitted his report to the CS on July 31, 2024, mentioning that the HDA was allotted 5,000 acres of land in Deh Ganjo Takkar, Latifabad, for the development of housing societies. Out of 5,000 acres, 200 acres were utilised for Kohsar, 2800 acres was kept by the HDA for another housing society called HDA City – a failed project which could not take off as per Bilal’s findings.

He mentioned that 2,000 acres were utilised for Gulistan-i-Sarmast housing society and Rs1bn were paid to the Board of Revenue (BoR) towards cost of land for 1000 acres out of 2000 acres. Only 360 acres stood mutated in the record of rights.

HDA has done balloting for stage IV of the housing scheme after cancellation of plots allotted in previous stages due to default.

HDA DG Dr Afshan told Dawn on Wednesday that she would have to gather details as to payment of Gulistan-i-Sarmast land to BoR and mutation of housing scheme’s land in favour of the HDA. Dr Afshan was recently posted in the authority.

A report by Bilal Memon cast severe doubt on the viability of Gulistan-i-Sarmast, describing it as an unplanned project launched without official approval or committed funding. According to the report, the project’s 2009 estimated cost of Rs13bn was intended to be funded entirely by the public through the sale of 33,500 residential and commercial plots. Crucially, Mr Memon noted that the Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA) failed to prepare essential financial and environmental impact reports. As a result, around 30,000 unsuspecting investors are currently left in limbo, struggling in vain to seek possession of their plots.

He had proposed that a key policy decision be taken to execute the project through the Annual Development Programme. The local government department should be advised to own the project and come up with development models as they deem fit appropriate.

He concluded that “one challenge will remain whether individual investors (poor households) will share increased burden of development and electrification cost. This calls for a policy decision”.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2026