LAHORE: The Punjab government has approved the construction of 8,000 low-income housing units in Lahore on public-private partnership. The apartments, ranging from 500, 600 and 700 square feet, will be given to low-income group people at Rs 925,000, Rs 1110,000, and Rs 1295,000, respectively.
The decision was taken in a Public-Private Partnership Steering Committee meeting held under the chairmanship of Provincial Finance Minister Mian Mujtaba Shujah-ur-Rehman. Chairman Planning and Development Punjab Muhammad Irfan Elahi, Member PPP steering Committee Engr. Qamar-ul-Islam Raja (MPA), Chaudhary Iftikhar Hussain, MPA, Director General LDA Ahad Khan Cheema and administrative Secretaries concerned also attended the meeting.
An official, who attended the meeting while talking to The News, said the meeting had decided to construct two mega low-income housing projects in Lahore, one each at Ashiana-E-Iqbal Burki Road and Ashiana-E-Quaid Attari Saroba. These apartments will be constructed on Ground+3 Model which will be distributed among low income group people through transparent manners, the official said.
The construction cost of the apartment has been approved at Rs 1,850 per square feet while tenders will be invited for both local and international developers to participate in the bidding process.
Under the procedure, the government will offer parties to construct the maximum number of apartments with their offering covered area under a particular piece of land against which the government will offer them a subsequent piece of land from the project. That piece of land will be in the personal use of the successful bidder at his own will, either to construct apartments for sale in the open market or construct a commercial plaza. For the successful applicants of the low income group, the apartments will be given on 10-year installments. The successful applicant will pay 20 percent down payment of the total price of its apartment while remaining payment will be paid in the ten-year monthly installments. On the completion of the installments and dues the ownership of the apartments will be transferred to the successful applicants, they disclosed.
The official, attending the meeting, said the Punjab government has been anticipating that a renowned international consortium is expected to participate in the bidding process of these apartments’ construction projects as the government is offering lucrative and business doable prospect on this project. The prime objective of the government is to create win-win situation for everyone in this project i.e. public, government and private sectors’ investors. Meanwhile, an official communiqué, issued by the Planningand Development Board, stated that provincial Minister Mujtaba Shujah-ur-Rehman is going to open a new era of Infrastructure development in the province with the help of private sector investment.
He also granted an approval to another project named Construction of Flyover at Railway Crossing at Defence Road, Kacha Kahna Lahore.. The Finance Minister, during the meeting, also appreciated the efforts of the Public-Private Partnership Cell, P&D Department, LDA and Risk Management Unit Finance Department to approve these development projects for the facilitation to the general public in a short duration.
