 "Honda Motorcyles in advanced talks to finalise plant in Gujarat")
After the initial opposition from farmers, things seem to be back on track at Mandal-Becharaji region. The Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) has already acquired around 500 hectares of land in the region to develop an industrial estate.
Senior officials from HMSI visited Gujarat earlier this week to discuss finer details of the SSA, an official in the know informed. He added that the company, however, is buying land privately in the area. HMSI is looking for land in the Viramgam area, which falls between Sanand (which houses the Tata Motors and Ford India plants) and Becharaji (which is the site for the proposed Maruti Suzuki plant).
According to the senior government official close to the development, HMSI has almost zeroed in on a plot and is buying land directly from locals. As for the SSA, finer details are being worked out including regarding value-added tax (VAT) refund.
For the other mega projects worth over Rs 1000 crore that have recently come to the state, Gujarat government has offered VAT refund for periods of 15 years to both Maruti and Ford, while for Tata Motors it was for 20 years.
However, refunds would not exceed the amount invested by the company in the state. This apart, stamp duty and registration fees were waived, as well as allowing payment in installments for the land. Maruti Suzuki, for example, is paying for the land allotted to it by the state government in installments at a low rate of interest.
Another government official informed that incentives for HMSI would be on similar lines. For that matter, Gujarat offers certain standard incentives for all mega projects which entail investments over Rs 1,000 crore, he added.
Meanwhile, after taking a step back on implementing the special investment region (SIR) plan in Mandal-Becharaji region, when the state government decided to exclude 36 out of the 44 villages in the Mandal-Becharaji SIR, land acquisition for the upcoming GIDC estate in the area is on track.
GIDC has already acquired around 500 hectares for setting up an industrial estates in the area that would house auto-ancillary and engineering units apart from other industry. GIDC plans to acquire around 1,000 Ha for the purpose. It is paying Rs 500 per square meter (Rs 20 lakh an acre or Rs 49.96 lakh for a hectare) to buy land from the locals.
Local villagers too said that if one gets good price for their land, people might decide to sell their lands. Already major real estate groups as well as auto-ancillary units have already started to look for land in the area.