Auction for octroi collection in SAS Nagar rescheduled

S.A.S. NAGAR, July 22: The auction for octroi collection for the township for the period - August 1998 to March 1999 - which was to be he...

S.A.S. NAGAR, July 22: The auction for octroi collection for the township for the period – August 1998 to March 1999 – which was to be held on July 20 at Ludhiana, has been rescheduled for July 27 and the venue has been changed to Mohali. The auction, it is learnt, was postponed at the last moment at Ludhiana on July 20 amid protests from the prospective bidders. This is the second time when the octroi collection of Municipal Councils in Punjab will go the private parties. The scheme was introduced in 1996 and later put off after a hue and cry was raised by industrialists and traders of the state.

According to information made available from the Punjab Local Body Government, the auction, scheduled for July 20 at Deputy Director’s office in Ludhiana, evoked poor response following which the auction was suspended. The suspension of auction at the fag-end raised eye-brows.

Now, the octroi collection will be put to auction in front of the office of the Mohali Municipal Committee on July 27. The participants in the bid will have to deposit Rs 5 lakh as earnest money and the reserve price for the auction has been fixed at Rs 8.65 crore which is a 15 per cent, comparing to the last year’s collection of Rs 7.51 crore from August 1, 1997 to March 31, 1998. The Municipal Committee had fetched Rs 6.85 crore during the period in 1996-97, 6.10 crore in 1995-96.

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It is learnt that Avtar Singh and Company of SAS Nagar offered Rs 12 crore for the purpose during the auction at Ludhiana.

Criticising postponement of the auction at the fag-end, Avtar Singh told Newsline that the step was uncalled for and required an independent probe. The auction was suspended at 12.30 pm on hour after the scheduled auction time at 11.00 am. He alleged that the bidders were treated rudely when they wanted to ascertain the cause that leads to the postponement.

The officials refuted the allegations and said the venue had been changed so that local bidders could participate in the auction easily. They, however, admitted the fact that participants were informed an hour late at the Ludhiana, the venue of auction.