Odisha targets one lakh acre land bank creation by June

Aiming to ease the prolonged process of land acquisition for industries, the Odisha government has set a target to complete acquisition of 100,000 acres of land for industrial projects by June end this year.

Sanjeev Chopra, principal secretary (industries) and chairman of Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) has urged all district collectors to complete the process by the end of June.

"It is pertinent to mention that the state government has mandated Idco for creation of land bank of at least one lakh acres by June 30, 2016 to attract investors for establishment of industries in the state. The chief minister is also reviewing the progress from time to time", Chopra said in his letter to the district collectors.

Idco has already filed requisition for government land measuring 76,721.94 acres under Land Bank scheme in different districts. Out of the total filed area 12,698.93 acres has been prioritized as category A land for sanction of lease in favour of Idco. The balance 64,023.01 acres of land has been placed under category B and is to be kept reserved at the district level for industrial purpose.

Lands under Category A land bank would be leased out to Idco by the district collector on requisition as per the existing procedures under Odisha Government Land Settlement Act at prevailing IPR (Industrial Policy Resolution) rates for already selected industries, identified industrial clusters, industrial estates and industrial parks.

Before filing requisition for any industry, Idco would assess the actual requirement of land for the industry through an expert committee and share the same with the concerned collector and the department of revenue & disaster management.

For Category B land bank, Idco would place requisition to the collector to reserve suitable government land for industrial purposes.