Odisha eyes 8 sites to create land stock of 50,000 acres

Locations identified are tracts of land in Bhadrak and Balasore districts, close to Dhamra and Paradeep ports, Bhubaneswar, Gopalpur in Ganjam district

The state government has identified eight locations for creation of 50,000 acres of land bank for expeditious grounding of different industrial projects.

The locations identified are tracts of land in Bhadrak and Balasore districts lying close to Dhamra port, Paradeep port, Bhubaneswar, Gopalpur in Ganjam district in the coastal belt. The locations identified in the western part of the state are Sambalpur- Jhasuguda region and Sundergarh-Rourkela region. Similarly, the government intends to create such land banks along Dhenkanal- Angul industrial corridor in central Odisha and Koraput/Rayagada- Kashipur region in south Odisha.

Sources said, near Dhamra port, some un-surveyed land is available between CRZ (coastal regulation zone) line and saline embankment for industrial use. However, the patch has to be brought to the revenue record first. Bhubaneswar-Khurda-Nayagarh area, Bhubaneswar-Jatani and Bhubaneswar-Baranga-Athagarh area have been identified for creation of land bank. Similarly, land banks can be created by taking up the stretch between Gopalpur sea coast and Rusikulya coast and unutilized land of IRE (Indian Rare Earth) project in Ganjam district. Besides, land is available in Gosala and Chiplima area in Sambalpur can be pooled for the purpose of industrialization.

Un-surveyed land in Rayagada and Koraput districts are also available for creation of land bank for compensatory afforestation in respect of forest diversion proposals.

In a recent meeting held in the presence of Chief Secretary, Gokul Chandra Pati, it was decided that un-surveyed land will be recorded and brought to revenue records through Boundary Change Proceedings (BCP). Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco), the nodal agency for land acquisition in the state, would identify these patches with in-house survey of Record of Rights (RoR) and cadastral maps. Private land will also be aggregated on land pooling system.

The creation of land banks assumes significance as the manufacturing sector contributes a whopping 40 per cent to the state Gross Domestic Product. Besides, the state government has confronted with the challenges of acquiring land for industrial purpose.

Big ticket projects like South Korean steel maker Posco and Tata Steel have battled against local opposition during land acquisition for their respective projects. The Rs 52000 crore steel plant of Posco, touted as the single largest foreign direct investment (FDI) in country, is yet to be implemented due to land acquisition problems.

---EOM---