Ludhiana Improvement Trust eyes ₹197 crore in auction for 18-year-abandoned ruin.

Ludhiana: Officials now bank on a buoyant commercial real-estate market to secure a buyer to end the 18-year vacancy of a crumbling multi-storey building.The Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) has set a reserve price of ₹197 crore for this 2.2-acre property on Rani Jhansi Road in a fresh attempt to sell this long-derelict landmark in the city's commercial heart. A 2022 bid under the previous administration had flopped despite a slashed price of ₹154 crore.LIT's chairman, Tarsem Bhinder, who confirmed the govt had approved the new reserve price, said: "If the new auction also fails, we will recommend a price reduction. Completing the Atal Apartments project and auctioning this building are my primary goals."Trust's superintending engineer Naveen Malhotra said the bidding window will close on May 22. The 77-unit complex was built for double basement parking, retail outlets, banks, restaurant spaces, and luxury penthouses. Despite its premium location, the structure has become a symbol of administrative inertia.Broken windows, overgrown vegetation, and deteriorating facades characterise the building. The city abandoned many reuse proposals for the ghost property over the past two decades. In 2013, the income tax department considered the site for its regional headquarters, while in 2018, the LIT drafted plans to transform the building into a "jewellers' market".Former officials suggested converting the basement into public parking for the nearby Ghumar Mandi or relocating the LIT's own administrative offices to the site. A ‘Downtown' proposal, which the-then Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal had backed, suggested the building house Powercom offices to facilitate a larger urban renewal project on Ferozepur Road.The LIT is making one more attempt to improve its balance sheet, betting that the city's commercial heart is finally ready for a pulse, but many fear the auction might once again fail to find its floor.MSID:: 130678194 413 |
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