Aimed at giving a push to a key defence project delayed for several years, Andhra Pradesh government today issued an order for leasing out 51.25 acres of land to Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) near Krishna district headquarters Machilipatnam for setting up an optics manufacturing facility.
BEL currently has a similar facility in Machilipatnam town but it wanted another site for expansion and had made request to the state government way back in 2008.
BEL plans to manufacture futuristic optical, night vision and soldier surveillance devices at a cost of Rs 100 crore at its proposed new facility, government sources told PTI.
The state government had identified the land belonging to Sri Venkateswara Swamy Devasthanam at Nimmaluru village for allotment, but the matter got stuck in a litigation.
The High Court recently disposed of the writ petition and allowed the state Endowments Commissioner to allot the land "by following due procedure, subject to payment of compensation".
"Since the project belongs to a PSU of Government of India dealing with equipment manufacture for country's security involving a significant national interest, it has been decided to consider a long lease as a very extraordinary case for 99 years on onetime payment of lease amount of Rs 12.84 crore," Principal Secretary (Revenue-Endowments) J S V Prasad said in an order issued today.
"The long lease gives sufficient stability to BEL to run its activity successfully over a long period of time while ensuring that the title of the land continues to vest with the temple," he added.
