MP mulls giving Babai farm to firms

Officers in Madhya Pradesh are toying with the idea of leasing out the 3,200-acre Babai Agri Farm to private firms for seed development on a managerial contract basis.

Although the government had planned that the farm will be a joint venture between the firms and the state government, nothing significant has been achieved so far.

"None has evinced interest in using the farm for a three years on contract," said a government source. The state government has altered its earlier plan to lease it out through international competitive bidding. The new plan is to offer the farms on managerial contract basis for a certain period.

The Babai farm in Hoshangabad district has an area of 3,299.06 acres,. Although the farm is incurring losses in government control, its sandy soil is good for some crops and suits for horticulture.

Reliance, Field Fresh Foods Pvt Ltd of Bharti Enterprises and UK based ELRo Holdings India Ltd and a Canadian company Spaceage Advanced Technology Ltd had evinced interest in the farm earlier. Later, the state government dropped the plan for leasing.

Earlier MP Agro Industries Development Corporation--the nodal agency for the farm--had appointed Nabscon--an agency of National Bank for Rural and Agriculture Development (NABARD) to assess the value of the farm.

Against the floor price of the farm at Rs 44 crore the Nabscon's draft assessment has had valued it at Rs 49 crore approximately.

Reliance, FieldFresh Foods Pvt. Ltd., a creation of Bharti Enterprises Ltd. and UK Based ELRo Holdings India Ltd and a Canadian company Spaceage Advanced Technology Ltd (SATL) had evinced interest in the farm earlier.

Talks for corporate leasing had and advanced stage. Later the state government dropped the plan for leasing. Last year, in the state assembly, the state government also announced that it had dropped the plan of leasing it out.