ISLAMABAD, Nov 29: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) is going to hit the biggest ever land deal with three private firms under which the federal capital’s costliest land -- along the Islamabad Highway (IHW), from Faizabad to Rewat – would be sold away without competition, inside sources told Dawn on Saturday.

The sources said three firms, two of which have their private housing schemes in Zone-V of Islamabad and the other has a joint venture with a government institution, are trying to get hold of the land. The owners of the firms, who gave a presentation to the CDA bosses on Friday, claimed they would develop the land to build a project on the pattern of Dubai’s Sheikh Zaid Road.

Under the plan, 300 square feet wide and 19-kilometre long corridors of acquired land on the two sides of Islamabad Highway from Faizabad to Rewat, would be sold to the three firms who will later form a joint venture among themselves to develop the land. After development they would sell the land at their own rates for the construction of highrise buildings over there.

During the presentation the firms offered to pay a lump sum amount of Rs90 billion to the CDA. However, the actual price of the land would be in trillions once the two corridors are declared as commercial areas, the sources said.

The CDA recently auctioned its commercial plots in different areas of the city at rates ranging between Rs150,000 to Rs171,000 per square yard.

According to rough estimates the total area that the firms want to purchase at Rs90 billion, measures about 11.4 million square yards and its price can be assessed by multiplying it with the present minimum auction rate for commercial land of Rs150,000 per square yard.

The source said that if the project materializes, it would be the biggest violation of the master plan of Islamabad, which has no such provision in it. Any amendment in the master plan would require the approval of the parliament. “Although the issue was presented before the CDA board, the board is not the competent authority to approve without approval of the parliament,” the source said. The CDA has been urged to invite more firms to sell the land through open auction so that transparency could be ensured in the deal.