MSMEs urge Naveen Patnaik to change status of allotted lands to freehold

Micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Odisha represented by nine industry associations, have urged chief minister Naveen Patnaik to change the status of allotted lands from leasehold to freehold.

There are around 50,000 MSME units operating in 106 industrial estates in the state where around 4200 units have been allocated nearly 5000 acres of land against due payment. These MSME units provide direct employment to 150,000 workers supporting around 500,000 families.

The industry bodies rued that the growth of MSME has been substantially retarded for inadequate credit flow, non-availability of real time co-lateral security and the need of various NOCs (no objection certificates) due to leasehold nature of the land. It discourages establishment of new enterprises, they said.

“Chief Minister in a meeting with industry associations on February 24 gave a patient hearing and agreed in principle to look into the matter in a positive way. While we submitted the representations collected from 400 MSMEs, are thankful to the government to have endorsed our views and have agreed to put its seal of approval on the memorandum presented before the Chief Minister which focused on the conversion of leasehold land to freehold land”, the MSME associations noted in a statement .

Land conversion is not new since other developed states like Gujarat, Delhi, Telangana and Utter Pradesh have already done it, looking at the need of the generation next.

The associations also requested chief minister to come out with a conversion policy for MSME of the state. They also suggested that the MSME units may be allowed to apply for conversion of leasehold land to free hold only after completion of five years operation and use the land only for commercial use after paying a reasonable conversion premium.

The associations included Utkal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI), Odisha Assembly of Small and Medium Enterprises (OASME) and North Orissa Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NOCCI), Odisha Small Scale Industries Association (OSSIA) and Odisha Industries Federation(OIF).