 "JSPL, Emami among five new firms to get land mortgage nod in Odisha")
Idco, the land acquisition arm of the state government, has issued such NOCs to five industries between February and June this year.
The five companies are Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL), Monnet Power Company Ltd, Jindal India Thermal Power Ltd (JITPL), Emami Paper Mills and Saraf Agencies Ltd. Kolkata-based Saraf Agencies is the latest firm to obtain NOC on June 16 for its Rs 1,200-crore titanium dioxide plant proposed at Chhatrapur in Ganjam district.
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It may be noted the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) in its report for general and social sector for the year ended March, 2012, which was tabled in the state assembly recently, has lashing out at Idco for conferring mortgage rights to industries by violating several rules in the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
“Idco irregularly conferred mortgage rights in the lease deeds executed with 52 MoU (memorandum of understanding) based and 54 non-MoU based industries while handing over possession of 46,732.894 acres land even though such power was not vested with Idco by the state government,” the CAG report stated.
The report says Idco issued NOC to 26 MoU based industries for mortgaging 13,846.23 acre land in order to raise loans from financial institutions. Based on the NOCs issued by Idco, 12 companies availed loans worth Rs 52,423.50 crore by mortgaging 8,489.89 acre land allotted to them. Data from the financial institutions showed that out of the sanctioned loan amount, Rs 8,625.89 crore has been released so far.
“IDCO unauthorisedly issued such NOCs, thereby enabling industries to raise loans on the basis of land allotted for industrial purpose, without adequate safeguards to ensure that such capital would actually be used in the industrial projects concerned,” the central auditor’s report said.
After the release of CAG’s report, Idco has intimated the state industries department that till date, 102 companies have applied for issue of NOC for mortgaging the allotted land/shed, out of which 93 proposals have been approved in the 97th and 98th meeting of board of directors of Idco. “As the matter of exemption of supplementary deed (between Idco and the concerned district collector) is pending at the government level, the supplementary deed in respect of the allotted land could not have been registered. So far, Idco has issued NOC in respect of five industries those who have borne the registration fee for execution of supplementary deed in respect of the allotted land,” Idco’s chief general manager (land) informed S C Naik, special secretary (industries) in a letter. Even before the release of the CAG report, the state government had defended the right of Idco to allow mortgage of land, stating that in order to achieve the legislative intention of creating industrial infrastructure, the corporation has been giving NOC for mortgaging the land.
Later, the department of revenue & disaster management came out with a notification, laying down conditions for grant of NOC for mortgage of the allotted land.
According to the notification, while granting permission for mortgage, the same has to be examined and approved by the board of directors, Idco on case-to-case basis.
The permission for mortgage will be issued by Idco only for the purpose of financing the project for which the land has been allotted.