Normal functioning of the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha was on Thursday disrupted by the principal opposition BJP, as the House met for the opening day of the state budget session.
The BJP members alleged the government was selling industrial land to private builders at throwaway prices and sought a CBI probe.
Bhatt alleged the government had sold 23-23 acres of land at Haridwar and Pantnagar industrial estates at throwaway prices to real estate companies. "These builders have made windfall profits through these deals," said Bhatt.
Bhatt claimed the State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Ltd (Sidcul) sold 23.77 acres of government land to a private company called Supretech at Rs 5,800 per sq meter. Sidcul received a total payment of Rs 55.79 crore from Supertech. After getting the land, the company sold the same land to some other firm at a price of Rs 32000 per sq meter, thus making a windfall profit of Rs 252.03 crore, Bhatt said.
Similarly, in Haridwar too, Bhatt claimed the Sidcul sold 23.18 acres of land sold to some lesser-known company at a price of Rs 6,600 per sq meter at a total land value of Rs 55.31 crore, which in turn sold the land to some other company for Rs 28,000 per sq meter, resulting a windfall gain of Rs 273.46 crore.
State BJP chief Rawat said the party has decided to launch a state-wide campaign against the Sidcul land scam and organise protest demonstrations on all the district headquarters tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has denied the charges as a "pack of lies" and said the government had adopted a transparent method in the deals.
