Chandigarh, Sept. 16 -- Former union minister, Pawan Kumar Bansal has assailed the Chandigarh administration's proposal to charge a hefty 50% of the existing collector rate for conversion of allotted leasehold industrial and commercial properties to freehold, and 25% of the collector rate for properties sold through auction.

In a statement, Bansal said that the formula worked out for the conversion of residential leasehold land tenure into freehold land tenure provides a just and reasonable guideline for industrial and commercial properties as well, whereas the present proposal would render the scheme a mere Faustian bargain.

He reminded the administration that the high collector rates presently in force for industrial and commercial pr...