The Maharashtra government may not give any further extension to entrepreneurs who have been allocated industrial plots and not been able to set up businesses for many years.
"Maharashtra aims to become leading state in manufacturing sector. We have many industrial plots, which were allocated years back, where businesses have not started due to various reasons but were given extensions.
"But now we have decided that we might not give them any further extension and take back those plots," MIDC Chief Executive Officer Bhushan Gagrani said at an event attended by industrialists here.
He said nearly 25 per cent of the industrial land, owned by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), is locked due to sick businesses.
"There are few plots which were given to entrepreneurs many years back, but have not been able to set up businesses due to various reasons. In addition to these, there are a few others who are engaged in land trading and so have not started businesses.
"We have decided we will take back these lands and give to serious entrepreneurs for setting up manufacturing facilities," he said.
According to the Economic Survey of Maharashtra for FY15, between August 1991 and October 2014, 18,709 industrial proposals with an investment of Rs 10.63 lakh crore were approved.
Out of these, 8,376 projects with an investment of Rs 2.54 lakh crore were commissioned and 2,115 projects with an investment of Rs 88,086 crore are under execution.
With the issue of land acquisition still facing stiff opposition from farmers and land owners, Gagrani said, "If the land owners are not agreeing with submission of land under the Land Acquisition Act, then they have the option of the MIDC Act, which allows compulsory land acquisition as well as acquisition by consent."
He further said that the state is taking various steps to make doing business in the state friendly by providing various incentives like abatement of value added tax (VAT) and central state tax (CST), stamp duty and electricity duty exemption as fiscal support.
