Chandigarh, Oct. 17 -- The Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) has sealed a deal with the State Agricultural Marketing Board (Mandi Board) to take over its 14-acre prime land in Mohali, on which a mandi has existed since 2011, but it never became functional. The deal has been part of optimum utilisation of vacant government lands (OUVGL), under which PUDA would pay the mandi board a sum of Rs.700 crore and then raise the funds by disposing of the land for commercial or residential purposes to a private developer. PUDA officials hope that the resale may fetch a much higher price for the land. Officials in PUDA, pleading anonymity, said that in the bargain state's housing authority hopes to earn a profit of Rs.500 to Rs.700 crore. An official in PUDA confirmed that the deal has been given in-principle approval at the level of the chief secretary, KAP Sinha, and further details, as to how the 14-acre land will be disposed of, will be planned. The introduction of OUVGL comes at a time when the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was forced to roll back its land pooling scheme after stiff resistance from farmers and the opposition parties. The state government decided to look for properties already owned by its departments, which could be resold and generate profits. The cash-rich Mandi Board has always been the target of respective governments in the state who have milked it to fund various schemes, including debt waiver. The board, at one point, was earning accruals on food grains (wheat and paddy) procurement in its 1,822 mandis across the state. However, since 2021, the Centre has stopped the release of rural development funds (2%) and market fee (3%), asking states to specify usage with a focus on rural development. Since 2021, the accruals have piled up to the tune of Rs.9,500 crore. During the SAD-BJP government, the Mandi Board funds were used for funding the sangat darshan programmes of then CM Parkash Singh Badal and later when Capt Amarinder Singh-led congress government took over the reins of the state in 2017, he launched a debt waiver scheme for the farmers under which a sum of Rs.2 lakh was given to each farmer and a total of Rs.9,400 crore was distributed. The then Congress government raised funds by pledging the future earnings of the board, which the present government is paying back. The move by AAP to dispose of the land has invited criticism from the opposition, who say that besides selling the board's property, the move will also displace the shop owners who had bought properties in the mandi. However, justifying the move, a Mandi Board official revealed that from the funds generated by handing over land to PUDA, two mega-mandis will be developed. "One mandi will be developed on the outskirts of Mohali, in which 31 shop owners, who will be displaced, will be given shops on priority, along with the others. And another mandi will be built in Amritsar, which will be a multipurpose project having a fruit, vegetable, and food grains market and modern cold stores," informed an official of the Mandi Board, pleading anonymity. Punjab Mandi Board chairman Harchand Singh Barsat and chief secretary KAP Sinha couldn't be contacted for comments. Repeated calls and texts to them remained unanswered....