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| Land prices may fall at proposed Kashipur Industrial Estate |
| Shishir Prashant / New Delhi/ Dehra Dun Oct 19, 2009, 00:38 IST |
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The land cost at the proposed Kashipur estate is likely to be 40 to 50 per cent cheaper than the other industrial areas in Uttarakhand.
According to preliminary estimates, the land cost at Kashipur after the development would be around Rs 1,800-2,000 per sq mt, which is far cheaper than other industrial estates like Sigaddi in Kotdwar, where the land price is Rs 3,500 per sq mt.
Moreover, the revenue through plots sale can also generate an income of Rs 200 crore for the cash-starved state.
These estimates are based on the DPR being prepared by the State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (SIDCUL) which wants to develop a new industrial estate for SME units comprising 530 acres at Escorts Farms area of the industrial town of Kashipur.
These estimates are based on the fact that the SIDCUL got the Kashipur land from the government free of cost.
But the government has not taken any decision so far in this regard. “No decision has been taken as far as the development of new industrial estate at Kashipur is concerned,” said an official.
SIDCUL, which has already developed the key Pantnagar and Haridwar industrial estates, put up the proposal before its Board last year to develop the industrial estate at Escorts Farms. The Board in turn deferred the proposal and instead set up a high-powered committee headed by the Additional Chief Secretary to go into the various aspects of the industrial estate.
Since the Central Industrial Package (CIP) is expiring on March 31, 2010, the SIDCUL officials are in a hurry to complete the industrial estate before the sunset clause ends.
“The Kashipur industrial estate is presently buried only in files,” the official conceded. After the last year meeting, no interest was shown by top bosses of the government.
After Haridwar and Pantnagar where top companies like Voltas, Nestle, Britannia and Bajaj Auto set up new units, the Escort Farms industrial estate will be the third biggest in the hill state where the officials are hoping that it can also become a hub for IT and education.
Keeping in view its past bad experiences, SIDCUL this time has decided not to hire any private consultant. For the development of infrastructure and other facilities, SIDCUL is in talks with the state PWD department and the Jal Sansthan.
The government estimate suggests that the new industrial estate can attract investment of over Rs 5,000 crores.
There will be nearly 145 industrial plots, which will be up for grab by the SME units.
At least 79 plots will be of one acre each, 29 of 4 acres and others being in different sizes. Experts here said the SIDCUL should also set up a knowledge park in the area keeping in view the interest of the industries, which find it difficult to hire skilled workers in the state and can talk to private players in this regard. Since Escorts Farms falls in non-notified area, the government is expecting only thrust industries to set up their new units there.
Escort Farms was at the centre of a controversy in 2006 after the state government decided to take back the land from settlers there. But despite an agitation by the settlers, the government managed to free land holdings on 600 acre area. Now, this particular land will be used to develop the industrial estate, the official said.
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