What it costs to bid
This page tells you the two amounts you have to part with before you own anything at all in Dholera. It matters because one of them is a flat fee that you do not get back and the other is a deposit that turns into part of the price if you win.
No paid placement · No developer money · Nothing for sale
In plain words
Two payments come before the plot. A processing fee of INR 20,000, which registers you to bid, and earnest money of 5 per cent of the reserve price, which is a deposit lodged with your bid. Earnest money is a bidder's security deposit. If you win, it is adjusted against the 10 per cent you owe within ten days of the allotment letter, so it is not money on top of the price.
- Processing fee
- INR 20,000Paid to register for the auction, and again for a tender submission. Status OFFICIAL. Source: DICDL Land Allotment Policy 2016 as amended to 16 February 2019, page 16 of 27 section 2.6 clause ii, and page 18 of 27 section 2.7 clause i.
- Earnest money deposit
- 5% of reserve priceLodged with the tender package. Status OFFICIAL. Inserted by Amendment 01 of 2019, section 16, with effect from 16 February 2019.
- What happens to the deposit
- Set against the 10%Adjusted against the down payment for a successful bidder. Status OFFICIAL.
- Where else the fee appears
- Forms 1 and 2The same INR 20,000 is printed on the application forms at policy PDF pages 30 and 36. Status OFFICIAL.
The fee is a fixed amount and the deposit is not
The INR 20,000 does not move with the size of the plot. It is the same figure for a small plot and a large one, and the policy repeats it in three places, which is a reasonable sign it is meant literally.
The 5 per cent does move, because it is calculated on the reserve price of the specific plot. The reserve price is the floor price the Land Management Committee sets for that plot before bidding opens. That figure is not published in the policy, and the reasons are set out on the reserve price page. So you cannot work out your deposit from this document alone.
What the policy does not say about the deposit
It says what happens to earnest money when you win. It does not, in the clauses recorded here, say what happens to it when you lose. That is a gap in the source rather than a rule, and this register prints the gap instead of assuming the usual practice.
Registering is not the same as qualifying
The clause frames the processing fee as being for the proper conduct of the auction and the observance of its rules. Read plainly, it buys you a seat rather than an outcome. Who is then allowed to approve the allotment you win depends on how much land is involved, which is covered on the approvals page.
The two clauses, word for word
A person intended to bid at the auction shall apply for registration to the Managing Director and shall pay a sum [of INR 20,000] as Processing Fees for proper conduct at the auction and observance of the rules of the auction.
All the bidders shall pay processing fees of INR 20,000 to DICDL along with the tender package submission. The bidders shall also pay EMD of 5% of the reserve price along with the tender package submission.
DICDL Land Allotment Policy 2016 as amended to 16 February 2019, page 16 of 27 section 2.6 clause ii, and page 18 of 27 section 2.7 clause i
Status: OFFICIAL. Source: DICDL Land Allotment Policy 2016 as amended to 16 February 2019, pages 16 and 18 of 27. Last verified 4 August 2026. This record is published in full, with its own source quote, in the downloadable dataset.