Singh also said the plots of the countermanded draw of July 2004, which the Noida board had earlier decided to auction, would not be auctioned now. The authority is moving the Allahabad high court to seek permission to draw the names of allotees afresh and sell the plots at rates prevailing at the time of the original auction.

The authority also said people whose residential plot allotments had been cancelled for any reason, could now have these restored even if more than six months have elapsed since the annulment. This would be done for a fee, which will depend on how long ago the allotment was cancelled.

Greater Noida land rates also revised
With the Noida authority raising prices of land auctioned by it, the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) board also made ``some downward revisions'' in the rates of commercial and institutional land. The board had raised the prices of such land by 60-70% in a meeting on April 8.

The authority also said the architect Charles Correa was being replaced by Grant Thorton's firm for designing and developing the city centre at Sector 25A. Singh said, ``This is being done because Correa has done nothing since he was appointed by the board two years ago. The board has now directed me to present a detailed project report of the city centre.''

In Greater Noida, meanwhile, the GNIDA board decided to allow a number of training and education institutions on a single plot, provided the plot is large enough according to the norms laid down by GNIDA.

Revealing this, GNIDA chairman Lalit Srivastava said, ``Now, in a plot where technical institutes are running, for instance, the plot owner can even open a medical college. There will be no bar on the number of training institutes -- up to a maximum of 10 -- set up on a single plot of prescribed size.''