The 110 flats in the Commonwealth Games Village, New Delhi received bids for 87 of them, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) said. These flats are located in towers 1, 9 and 14 of the development.

The response to the bid documents was muted, with only 218 filled and sealed bids finally received in contrast to the over 1,200 bid documents sold by DDA.

Over 80 per cent of the flats were bought by public sector undertakings (PSU) with State Bank of India being the highest bidder for 32 of the flats. Only a handful of individual bidders procured a flat.

According to sources in DDA, the remaining flats in the Village — with around 600 still remaining to be sold — would be given to government bodies and not to individuals.

  The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Wednesday registered a case as part of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) scam and raided 20 places in the national capital region, Uttar Pradesh and Kolkata and Siliguri in West Bengal, a CBI official said.

"The case involves awarding of contracts for laying five synthetic tracks in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chhatrasal Stadium, Thyagaraj Sport Complex, CWG Village and Delhi University Stadium. Losses of over Rs.30 crore have been calculated in the scam," a CBI official, who did not wish to be named, said.

The private company allegedly quoted exorbitant rates which were allegedly justified by the accused CPWD and DDA officials, said the CBI official.  

The charges also include undue favour to the company by circumventing eligibility criteria in the award of the contract.

CWG scam: CBI books officials of CPWD, DDA

The CBI on Wednesday registered a fresh case of alleged irregularities in laying down of synthetic tracks in five stadia for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and carried out searches at 20 locations.

The agency has named senior officials of CPWD, DDA and a private sports merchandise manufacturer in the case. The CBI, which is probing into alleged irregularities in the 2010 CWG, has so far registered 15 FIRs.

In the present case, the agency has named V K Gupta (the then Chief Executive Engineer and present ADG CPWD Delhi), N L Singh (the then Chief Executive Engineer who is now with CPWD Eastern Region Kolkata), A K Pandit (the then Senior Engineer PWD and present Chief Engineer DDA), B B Bhatia (the then Chief Executive Engineer of Delhi who is now ADG Eastern Region Kolkata), Suraja Ram (Executive Engineer CPWD Delhi), Janeshwar Tyagi (retd), Ombeer Saini (Senior Engineer, Siliguri) and Shiv Pratap Singh (owner of Shiv Naresh Sports Pvt Limited).

In its FIR, the CBI alleged that these officers allegedly colluded with the owner of Shiv Naresh Sports Pvt Limited to grab the contract worth Rs 60.37 crore. “In furtherance of the criminal conspiracy, the private firm quoted exorbitant rates which were wrongfully justified by the accused officials of CPWD and DDA. The allegations also include undue favour to the firm by circumventing the eligibility criteria in the award of contract,” said a CBI spokesperson. This resulted in a loss of Rs 30 crore to the exchequer.

The 2010 Commonwealth Games was the biggest sporting event in India's history

India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has raided 20 locations in connection with alleged scams during the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.

Searches have been carried out in the capital, Delhi, Calcutta and Siliguri in the north-east, reports say.

Police are investigating alleged irregularities in the construction of synthetic tracks in five stadiums.

The row over the Games is one of a series of corruption scandals that has rocked India in recent months.

The CBI is yet to give details of Wednesday's raids, but reports say the homes of some officials of government-controlled Delhi urban development agencies and the premises of a private sports equipment manufacturer have been searched.

The Games were meant to be Delhi's moment of glory, but the run-up to the event was mired in ugly controversies with missed deadlines and serious allegations of corruption and incompetence.

Suresh Kalmadi, the disgraced former chief of the Games, was arrested in April last year. He was accused of conspiracy regarding the awarding of commercial contracts for the Games.

He was released on bail in January. He denies any wrongdoing.

He was removed from his post in January last year.

Earlier, Mr Kalmadi was accused of "conspiracy to cause favour to a company in Switzerland while procuring timers and scoring equipment for the Games".

He was also accused of granting contracts at a 2009 event in London which marked the start of a baton race across Commonwealth countries.

Other Games officials, including VK Verma, the former director general of the organising committee, have also been accused of financial irregularities linked to the event.

Urban development minister Kamal Nath, in an indirect reference to public anger over corruption, advised MPs not think about occupying the flats. "I don't want to be a victim. You also won't like that. So, don't think about that," he told Lok Sabha. 

Nath said 100 CWG flats are going to be auctioned soon. Altogether 1,168 flats were constructed for the 2010 Games out of which DDA owns 711 flats. He said there would be a "hue and cry", if the flats were allotted to MPs in the "present scenario". 

The minister made his submissions while replying to a discussion on the demands for grants on his ministry. He said 52 flats for Lok Sabha MPs on Bishamber Das Road and 14 for Rajya Sabha MPs on Talkatora Road are under construction. "Plan for constructing 460 flats on Feroze Shah Road and 400 flats in South Avenue is ready," he said.

Non-government organisation Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan has punctured the Delhi Development Authority's marketing blitz inviting bidders for the luxurious housing units in the Commonwealth Games Village by pointing to “deficiencies” in the construction quality.

In an open letter, the Abhiyan has cajoled investors and prospective house buyers to consider reports that highlight flaws in the construction of what the DDA calls the “most desirable place” to live in the Capital.

Citing paragraphs from the Shunglu Committee Report and another drafted by the Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee (CBRI), the Abhiyan has urged the citizens “to understand and reject DDA's invitation on not just moral grounds but also on sound economic and safety sense”.

The Abhiyan has quoted from the report submitted by the Shunglu Committee that was set up by the Prime Minister to check the transgression during the Commonwealth Games-2010. It says: “The flooding of the basements of the newly-constructed residential towers in August-September 2010 following heavy rainfall in Delhi served to highlight the potential danger that could be posed by nature's fury to buildings constructed in this fragile and vulnerable location.”

Further, “the oversight and monitoring functions by the committees set up by the DDA were ineffective as several defects and quality issues relating to the construction of the residential zone by the project developer continued to persist”.

"