ISLAMABAD, May 4: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) will increase the price of land in sector D-12 so as to meet the development expenditures, a senior official of the authority told this reporter on Saturday.

“Out of the total number of plots, some 870 plots have not been auctioned so far,” he said adding “these plots will be sold on higher rates and the money will be utilised for the development of the sector.”

The estimated cost of the project in PC-I was Rs3.2 billion but the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec ), in its meeting on May 3, slashed the cost by Rs2 billion.

To a question, the official said cut in the estimated cost of the project would not affect the development work.

However, another official of the CDA was of the view that the revised cost was not sufficient to meet the development expenditures.

He said the authority had already charged development expenditures from the allotees but the money had been utilised for other development projects.

The member (engineering) of the authority, however, said no commercial plot in the sector had been sold so far. “These plots will also be sold through an open auction,” he said.

“The development work will start in next two months and the entire project will be completed within three years.

The CDA chairman, Mir Laiq Shah, said: “We have realised that the allotees of sector D-12 have already suffered a lot due to long delay, therefore, we will now try to save them from further inconvenience.”