The Jagananna Smart Township coming up near Dharmavaram looks like a smart move by the State government to provide affordable, fully developed housing plots to the middle-class population of Anantapur at a strategically convenient location. The layout is 3 km from the Dharmavaram town and 6 km to Marur Toll Plaza on National Highway No.44 connecting Bengaluru with Hyderabad.
The State government proposes to sell 55 acres divided into 1,272 plots of four sizes after development and pocket ₹159.5 crore. The estimated development cost of the entire layout is ₹106 crore, says Anantapur Hindupur Urban Development Authority Chairman Mahalakshmi Srinivas. Tenders for developing the layout have been floated with an estimated cost of ₹60 crore and an additional ₹6 crore has been budgeted for other administrative expenses.
On January 18, there will be reverse tendering for the development of plots and AHUDA expects to strike a good deal, which will significantly reduce its expenditure.
AHUDA spent ₹38 crore to acquire 120 acres of assigned land from the beneficiaries from three villages who had 5 acres each.
With a tentative price of ₹5,999 per square yard, it looks a bit on the higher side say many prospective buyers as some private persons have been selling plots at a much lesser price.
Though private layouts in the vicinity are available for a lesser price, the peace of mind a buyer will have with the AHUDA-developed plots will be greater, opines another section of prospective buyers, who have made a survey of the identified land before making an online application.
The colony will have a four-lane, 60-feet road connecting it with the National Highway and it is
already connected by a double-road on the eastern side (Anantapur - Zhangalapalli - Dharmavaram), says AHUDA Planning Officer A.M. Hariprasad.
Bookings were slow on the first two days but on Friday, considered an auspicious day, 54 persons paid 10% advance money and 199 persons submitted their application online. While 43 out of 311 available plots of 150 square yards were booked, 55 out of 241 plots of 200 sq. yd. were booked. There are 364 plots of uneven size for which value and land extent have not been determined.
