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AG seeks status report on resumption of un-utilised land

In February this year, the State Cabinet decided to take back land from developers who did not utilise it within three years

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Jayajit Dash Bhubaneswar
Last Updated : Apr 01 2013 | 9:52 PM IST
The office of the Accountant General (AG)-Odisha has sought a status report from Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) on steps taken to resume the government land allotted to industries and others that has remained un-utilised for more than three years.

AG pointed out in a recent meeting with officials of Idco and industries department that no steps were taken for resumption of un-utilised land. The AG is conducting a performance audit on ‘Acquisition, Development & Allotment of land by Idco for industrial and other purpose’.

In February this year, the State Cabinet decided to take back land from developers who did not utilise it within three years.

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As per the estimates of the state ministry of revenue & disaster management, land worth Rs 1 lakh crore can come back under state control if the Cabinet decision is implemented.

Huge tracts of land are lying unused in Bhubaneswar area and the districts of Khurda, Puri and Jajpur. At the Chandaka industrial estate on the city’s outskirts, 780 acres of land leased out by government for different industrial projects is lying unused.

To implement the Cabinet decision, the state government needs to amend the existing Odisha Government Land Settlement Act-1962.

The AG also wanted to know the reason for non-resumption of excess land allotted to educational institutions beyond the prescribed norm. Vishal Dev, chairman and managing director (CMD) of Idco said that land requirement prescribed by the education department, Medical Council of India (MCI) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is the prescribed minimum and not the maximum limit. Idco has agreed to furnish a detailed reply to the AG on the matter.

That apart, Idco would submit a report of pending applications for land acquisition.

Regarding misuse of emergency provisions, Idco CMD said, the same is not being applied since 2006.

It may be noted that the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) report (civil) for the year ended March 31, 2011 had rapped the state revenue department for acquiring nearly 5,000 acres of land for six mega industries including Posco India and Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) by invoking emergency provisions without fulfilling the conditions prescribed under Land Acquisition Act-1894.

An audit scrutiny of these land acquisition cases revealed that 4967.08 acres of land valued at Rs 165 crore (approximate present market value Rs 901.30 crore) were acquired between July 2002 and March 2011 for establishment of industries by six promoters- Aditya Aluminium Ltd (Sambalpur)-2021.41 acres, Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd (Sambalpur)-608.67 acres, Viraj Steel & Energy Ltd (Sambalpur)-2.58 acres, VAL (Kalahandi)-826.56 acres, Dhamra Port Company Ltd (Bhadrak)-1070 acres and Posco India Ltd (Jagatsinghpur)-437.86 acres.

The CAG is sore over the fact that land acquired in case of all these six industrial projects was not put to use for a period ranging from 15 months to six years three months from the date of publication of notification under Section 4 (1) of Land Acquisition Act against the stipulated time period of six months.

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First Published: Apr 01 2013 | 8:36 PM IST

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