)
After the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) raised hue and cry over allowing mortgage of land leased to industries in Odisha, the state government has asked its land acquisition agency, Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) to submit a factual position on the matter.
Idco is in the eye of a storm with a recently released CAG report lashing out at the state run firm for irregularly conferring mortgage rights to Industries by violating several rules in the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
“Regarding Idco, CAG has given a report. Lot of irregularities have been mentioned in the report which have come out in the electronic and print media. Even several political parties have demanded for CBI enquiry over the issue. Under the circumstances, I would like to know the responses regarding the CAG report and regarding the irregularities made. The responses with the factual position may please be given to me and then we would have further discussion over the matter”, industries minister Debi Prasad Mishra stated in a file note sheet.
The irregularity relates to Idco issuing no objection certificate (NOC) to 26 MoU based industries for mortgaging 13,846.23 acre of leased land in order to raise loans from financial institutions. Based on the NOCs issued by Idco, 12 companies availed loans worth Rs52,423.50 crore by mortgaging 8,489.89 acre land allotted to them. Data from the financial institutions showed that out of the sanctioned loan amount, Rs8,625.89 crore has been released so far. “IDCO unauthorisedly issued such NOCs, thereby enabling industries to raise loans on the basis of land allotted for industrial purpose, without adequate safeguards to ensure that such capital would actually be used in the industrial projects concerned”, the CAG report said.
After the release of the report, Idco has intimated the state industries department that till date, 102 companies have applied for issue of NOC for mortgaging the allotted land/shed, out of which 93 proposals have been approved in the 97th and 98th meeting of board of directors of Idco.
Among fresh cases, Idco said, it has issued NOC in respect of five industries who have borne the registration fee for execution of supplementary deed in respect of the allotted land. The five beneficiary industries include Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL), Monnet Power Company Ltd, Jindal India Thermal Power Ltd (JITPL), Emami Paper Mills and Saraf Agencies Ltd. Even before the release of the CAG report, the state government had defended the right of Idco to allow mortgage of land, stating that in order to achieve the legislative intention of creating industrial infrastructure, the corporation had been issuing NOCs for land mortgage. Later, the department of revenue & disaster management came out with a notification, laying down conditions for grant of NOC for mortgage of land. According to the notification, while granting permission for mortgage, the same has to be examined and approved by the board of directors of Idco on case-to-case basis. The permission for mortgage will be issued by Idco only for the purpose of financing the project for which the land has been allotted.
