Date:08/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/08/stories/2006090815530100.htm

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Sudden demand for TNHB plots at Navalpattu

Staff Reporter

1000 plots auctioned by TNHB last fortnight alone

SPURT: The semi-developed plots of Tamil Nadu Housing Board at Navalpattu. — Photo: R. Ashok

TIRUCHI: A sudden demand for semi-developed housing plots in Navalpattu, caused by the likelihood of emergence of an information technology (IT) park in the near future, has come as a huge relief to the cash-strapped Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB). The plots were lying unsold for 22 years, ever since the board developed them under the Tamil Nadu Urban Development Project.

Last fortnight alone, the TNHB had auctioned about 1,000 plots meant for economically weaker sections. Plots measuring 338 square feet were sold (along with a lavatory alone) for Rs.7,250 apiece while each of the 430 square feet plots (with lavatory and bath) were sold for Rs.11,044 each. The remaining plots numbering over 400 are slated for auction on September 13, official sources said. A senior TNHB official said that the demand erupted after the Chairman of the Electronic Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT), C. Umashankar, accompanied by senior district officials, inspected a 135-acre site lying adjacent to the TNHB Colony, and approved it for establishment of an IT park.

While the IT park planned at Panjappur will be fully state owned, at Navalpattu, the Government would create infrastructure and connectivity and hand them over to top software companies.