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Chandigarh's long-delayed Sector?53 housing scheme has been shelved again by the city's Housing Board after property prices spiked sharply due to revised collector rates. Despite a strong response from the public-over 7,400 applications-the scheme was deemed unaffordable in its current form. CHB has decided to refund around INR 7.5 crore collected from applicants. This marks another setback for a project that has been struggling to take off since it was first proposed over six years ago.
Faced with surging costs, the Chandigarh Housing Board has decided not to move forward with its Sector?53 self-financing housing scheme, despite having received overwhelming interest earlier this year. Officials confirmed that the recent increase in collector rates significantly raised flat prices, making the offering financially unviable for most applicants. Advertisement
Revised estimates showed that a 3 BHK unit would now cost approximately INR 2.29 crore-up from an earlier estimate of INR 1.65 crore. Similarly, 2 BHK units have risen to INR 1.97 crore, and EWS flats now cost nearly INR 73 lakh, a jump from INR 55 lakh. This sharp escalation led CHB to return the INR 7.5 crore collected through the demand survey.
This is not the first time the Sector?53 project has been postponed. First introduced in 2018, the scheme was abandoned due to weak demand, only to be revived in 2023 and again in early 2024. Despite receiving nearly 7,500 applications for 372 flats this year, the board's failure to implement the scheme before the price hike has resulted in yet another delay.
The board's repeated inability to execute this project has drawn criticism from housing advocates, who say the lack of timely action and continued cost escalations are eroding public trust. No new mass housing schemes targeting middle- and lower-income groups have been launched in recent years, intensifying the city's affordable housing crisis.
The repeated postponement of the Sector?53 housing scheme reflects the deeper dysfunction within public housing bodies when it comes to balancing planning with price stability. While public demand remains robust, bureaucratic delays and an absence of price control mechanisms have repeatedly derailed the project. For Chandigarh to address its mounting housing needs, future schemes must be timely, affordable, and insulated from volatile cost structures. The city cannot afford to let its residents' housing aspirations fall victim to administrative inertia and unchecked price inflation.
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