LAHORE: The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and Bank of Punjab (BoP) has signed an Rs 10 billion agreement under which the bank will provide resources for the construction of LDA City Naya Pakistan apartments.
LDA Director General Ahmed Aziz Tarar and BoP Chairman Zafar Masood signed the agreement in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar here on Wednesday.
As per the agreement, the LDA will construct and allot 4,000 apartments through balloting and will also be responsible for the maintenance of building infrastructure while the bank will receive applications, issue letters of comfort to expected allottees along with the provision of soft loans to successful applicants under Islamic mortgage financing. The project amount will be ring-fenced.
While addressing the ceremony, the CM said that the PM’s vision of providing a roof to the shelterless has been materialized by the Punjab government as banks and the public sector have joined hands to provide residential facilities to the common man. “This historic agreement paves the way for a new culture to help the needy through mortgage financing,” he added. He further said that it is satisfying that the LDA has planned to construct 35024 apartments over an area of 8,500 Kanals in three years at Mouza Halloke, adjoining the Lahore Ring Road.
According to him, PC-I worth Rs 20 billion has been approved for the provision of necessary infrastructure, including construction of roads, sewerage, the supply of water and electricity etc. Similarly, another PC-I of Rs 10 billion has also been approved to construct 4,000 apartments in the first phase. The apartment’s booking will be made through a 10 percent down payment and the rest of the payment will be made in instalments. An apartment would approximately cost Rs 2.7 million. Initially, the apartment cost was estimated at around Rs 4.5 million but it was decreased to facilitate the low-income households.
Giving further details about the scheme, the CM added that a consortium of Bank of Punjab, Habib Bank, Faisal Bank, Bank Alfalah, UBL, Meezan Bank and National Bank has been formed to provide a mortgage financing facility. “The Naya Pakistan Housing Authority will provide Rs 300,000 subsidy while the banks will provide soft loans under Islamic banking (takaful). The loans will be payable in a period of five, 10 and 20 years, and a directorate has also been established to ensure a fast-track implementation,” he added. On the occasion, Punjab Housing Minister Mian Mahmood ur Rasheed, provincial legislators, LDA Vice Chairman Sheikh Muhammad Imran, WASA Vice Chairman Sheikh Imtiaz, provincial secretaries and other senior officials attended the ceremony.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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