New Delhi [India], December 6 (ANI): Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Friday expressed “strong displeasure” with the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) for failing to revise the ground rent on its land and properties, resulting in “huge losses” to the public exchequer, an official statement from the LG’s office said.
“Saxena has expressed strong displeasure over the lackadaisical approach of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) in not revising the ground rent of its land and properties, thereby causing huge losses to the public exchequer,” the statement read.
To address the issue, the LG’s office has directed the CEO of DUSIB to conduct a fact-finding inquiry and identify the officers responsible for this “lapse in revising the ground rent.”
The statement noted that the issue surfaced during the hearing of an appeal filed by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) against DUSIB. It was revealed that “DUSIB had not revised the rent to be charged from HPCL despite mandatory provisions for the same.”
In 1984, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) allotted two plots of land in Shahzada Bagh Industrial Area and Sarai Basti Rohtak Road to HPCL for setting up filling stations on a 10-year lease, with the agreement stipulating that the rent would be revised every five years, the LG’s statement informed.
However, the office pointed out that the practice of revising rent every five years, as stipulated in the 1984 agreement, was not adhered to for over 30 years.
“The revision of ground rent after every five years, as mandated by the agreement, was not undertaken for nearly 30 years, and DUSIB suddenly raised a random demand of Rs 35 crore in 2018 along with interest on HPCL,” the LG’s statement added.
LG Saxena remarked that this issue exposed the “negligence of DUSIB officials” responsible for property administration.
He has also directed the board to recalculate the ground rent and formulate a comprehensive policy within 30 days for fixing ground rent and other charges for all its land and properties.
“The LG also decided that HPCL would pay the revised principal amount and interest only from 2018, the year DUSIB raised the demand, rather than from 1984,” the statement added. (ANI)
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