Chandigarh, Jan 10: After remaining stalled for nearly a decade, the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) is set to launch its long-pending general housing scheme in Sector 53 by March this year, with the land proposed to be auctioned for group housing development.
UT Chief Secretary H. Rajesh Prasad said the auction process would be conducted transparently. “The site will be auctioned in a fair manner, and any private developer will be eligible to participate,” he said during an interaction with mediapersons.
Of the nearly 21-acre site in Sector 53, around 11 acres have been earmarked for a general housing scheme for UT Administration employees. A demand survey completed in March 2025 saw 7,468 applications for just 372 flats, reflecting almost 20 applicants per dwelling unit.
Applicants had deposited ₹10,000 each for HIG and MIG categories and ₹5,000 for the EWS category. The strong response contrasts with the scheme’s first proposal in 2018, when it drew only 178 applications for 492 flats due to high prices ranging from ₹95 lakh to ₹1.8 crore, leading to its withdrawal.
The project was revived in August 2023 but was put on hold by the then UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit. His successor, Gulab Chand Kataria, cleared its revival in November 2024 and later directed officials to explore auctioning part of the land. The last CHB housing scheme was floated in 2016 in Sector 51.
Meanwhile, relief may be on the way for nearly 62,000 CHB allottees opposing the January 3, 2023 policy on need-based changes. Prasad said an 11-member committee constituted after a Supreme Court order had reviewed the policy and would submit its report by month-end. “Exemptions allowed earlier are likely to be restored up to 90 per cent,” he said.
Allottees have argued that the 2023 notification reclassified long-permitted alterations as violations. Around 55,000 units reportedly have deviations such as additional rooms, converted balconies and covered courtyards. The CHB has revised its need-based change policy five times since 2010.
