Up for sale this time around are 170 freehold, built-up shops located in what DDA officials call “prime areas”.

“We are expecting a good response from the auctions primarily because the shops up for sale are in areas not included in the last list,” a senior official from DDA’s land disposal department said. Among the areas where the shops are located are “Sheikh Sarai and Punjabi Bagh”.

While the shops fall in various zones across the city, the DDA is clear that the most viable areas up for sale are likely to be south Delhi and Dwarka. Reason: “due to the lack of commercial land available in south Delhi and the surge of growth in Dwarka”, a DDA official explained.

Another factor that the development agency is counting on to raise the value of shops is the effect of the sealing drive. As more and more people make a conscious move towards commercial space, officials expect the auction to attract considerable interest. The shops would fetch a good price in south and west Delhi, where commercial activities were conducted out of residential spaces before the sealing drive, the official said. “That is because people now want to conduct business out of exclusively commercial spaces to avoid any problem in future.

Though residential properties and commercial spaces are becoming scarce in the heart of the Capital, officials show DDA’s past record as a reason for their confidence. Over the last year and a half, officials said, the agency has sold approximately 1,200 shops and commercial plots. A few shops that did not find any buyers in earlier auctions are also likely to find takers this time around, largely due to the viability of commercial spaces, they said.

“A few shops did not sell in our last auction perhaps because people did not like the location, apart from other factors,” a senior official of the DDA’s land disposal department said. “But we are certain that they would attract greater attention this time.”