While it has been raining big projects in Gujarat, which has successfully managed to position itself as one of the upcoming automotive hubs in the country, it seems, in its desperation to attract these big-ticket projects, the state government has played around with rules.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report for the year ended March 31, 2012, which was tabled on Tuesday in the state assembly, pointed out that the Gujarat government allotted land to Ford India Private Ltd at a price fixed by a State Level Approval Committee (SLAC), which was not empowered to fix the land prices. The value of the land, as per the CAG, was required to be ascertained by District Level Valuation Committee (DLVC)/State Level Valuation Committee (SLVC).
The state government had allotted around 18,63,687 square feet (460 acres) of land valued at Rs 205 crore to Ford India Private Limited "for the purpose of establishment of mega project of automobile and engineering at the rate of Rs 1100 per square feet fixed by the State Level Approval Committee (SLAC)."
"The SLAC has not been empowered to fix rate of land for allotment to mega projects (above Rs 1,000 crore investment). The value was required to be ascertained by District Level Valuation Committee/ State Level Valuation Committee based upon the valuation policy as determined by the government vide government resolution dated 22 October 2008," it observed.
After the discrepancy was pointed out, the government replied that the SLAC had decided the value of land based on some concrete facts which was a practice with SLVC and the price was also approved by the Cabinet. The government further reasoned that the SLAC deliberated on the issue and took note of the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) land price in the nearby areas and allotted the land at Rs 1,100 per square meter.
While terming the government's response on the matter as 'unacceptable', the CAG recommended that the state government followed a uniform policy for allotment of government land to safeguard its revenue and public interest at large.
Irregularities in transfer of land in APSEZ
After scrutinising land allotment records to Adani Port and SEZ (APSEZ) during the period from July 2005 to June 2009, the CAG found that there were irregularities in transfer of land by APSEZ (formerly know as Mundra Port SEZ or MPSEZ) to other units that resulted in a non-levy of premium of Rs 10.57 lakh. The report said that permission was obtained by APSEZ from Kutch district collector for leasing out 18,598 sq mt of land to Eon Hinjewadi Infrastructure of Mumbai after a payment of Rs 40,000. On cross-verification of registered documents with the sub registrar, Mundra, the CAG noticed that 14 lease deeds for an area of 4,84.326 sq mt in APSEZ were registered during the period from December 2008 to November 2011. The collector had given permission to only one unit, that of Eon Hinjewadi. The remaining 13 cases were irregular, which resulted in non-levy of premium of Rs 10.57 lakh.
