With an aim to attract more investments in the state, the Uttarakhand government has transferred the Sitarganj industrial estate to the controversial joint venture between Eldeco and State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Ltd (Sidcul).
The lease deed with Eldeco has already been worked out, said a government official. Eldeco, in a joint venture with Sidcul, is developing the Eldeco-Sidcul Industrial Park at Sitarganj on over 1,000 acres of government land.
Last year, the government had set up an inquiry commission on various alleged scandals during the regime of the previous Congress government. The Eldeco-Sidcul joint venture was also being probed by the commission, which is yet to submit its report to the government.
With the execution of the lease deed, all the new registrations will be done by the Eldeco company itself. So far, 284 plots have been allotted at the Sitarganj industrial estate. Eldeco, which is the majority shareholder in the joint venture, will allot the remaining 100 industrial plots as nearly 100 to 125 acres were still lying vacant in the area.
The process of allotment of industrial plots at Sitarganj went haywire after the Khanduri government set up the probe panel.
However, the government later realised it would be better to transfer the land to Eldico so that the industrial process was not hampered.
