• JU lease renewal: KMC to ask for Rs 493cr as premium
    Times of India | 20 July 2023
  • KOLKATA: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation is all set to address the matter of the lease for the 172-bigha Jadavpur University campus that expired three years ago. While the renewal of the 99-year lease is a foregone conclusion given the institute's status, KMC plans to charge a huge lease premium and substantially hike the paltry annual rent.

    According to civic officials, KMC has calculated a one-time lease premium of Rs 376-493 crore and an annual rent of Rs 2.8-3.7 crore for the land in JU possession. The earlier rent was a paltry Rs 410 per month. With no records of the rent payment, JU authorities will also have to clear at least Rs 5 lakh in rent dues accumulated over the past 102 years.

    Though there was no provision of renewing the lease in the original document, KMC has decided to renew the lease for perpetuity. However, while doing so, it plans to majorly revise the rent and even consider a one-time lease premium based on the market value.

    While the market value of 172 bigha bastu land is Rs 941 crore and for office Rs 1,234 crore, KMC has proposed the lease premium at 40% of the value since it is an engineering institute. This works out to a one-time payment of Rs 376 crore if it is to be considered bastu land and Rs 493 crore if it considered office land. The annual rent has been determined at 0.3% of the market value or Rs 2.8 crore for bastu and Rs 3.7 crore for office.

    The decision to renew the lease and hike the lease premium and annual rent substantially was taken after consulting with mayor Firhad Hakim. But sources said the civic body was open to negotiations with JU and offer further concessions as it is a premier educational institution.

    The proposal was passed in the mayor-in-council meeting (MiC) last month and the policy decision was placed as an agenda in the KMC monthly meeting last Saturday.

    According to a KMC official, the proposal passed in the KMC House will be sent to the state urban development and municipal affairs minister Firhad Hakim seeking his approval before the civic brass takes up the matter with the JU authorities.

    "Our surveyor's department has drafted a proposal for renewal of the lease as well as hike in the lease premium and annual rent as per the KMC rules. The matter has been passed in the highest decision-making body in the KMC and sent to the state UD&MA department for approval," said a KMC official.

    JU registrar Snehamanju Basu said talks were on with KMC. An university official said the funds crunch faced by the institute is well known. In 2022, the university had reached out to its alumni, seeking funds. This year, it has constituted an alumni cell to mobilize former students worldwide to raise funds. "In this context, new terms and conditions will be an additional financial burden," the official said.

    (With inputs from Poulami Roy Banerjee)
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