CAG flays Odisha for not resuming 7586 acres of unused land

The land with present market value of Rs 675.08 crore was alloted to 18 industries that had signed MoU with the state government

The office of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) has flayed the Odisha government for non-resumption of 7585.78 acres of land that remained unused for more than three years.

The land with present market value of Rs 675.08 crore was alloted to 18 industries that had signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government.

The departments of revenue & disaster management and industries have assured to look into the matter.

In February this year, the State Cabinet had decided to take back land from developers if it remained un-utilized for more than three years. The move was aimed at weeding out non-serious players.

Minister for revenue & disaster management S N Patro had said recently that huge tracts of land lying unused in Bhubaneswar area and the districts of Khurda, Puri and Jajpur. The valuation of these lands was estimated at around Rs one lakh crore.

At the Chandaka industrial estate on the city's outskirts, 780 acres of land leased out by government for different industrial projects is lying unused.

Last month, the office of the Accountant General (AG)-Odisha had sought a status report from Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) on steps taken to resume alloted government land that has remained un-utilized for more than three years.

AG pointed out in a recent meeting with officials of Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) and industries department that no steps were taken for resumption of un-utilized land. The AG is conducting a performance audit on 'Acquisition, Development & Allotment of land by Idco for industrial and other purpose'.

The AG also wanted to know the reason for non-resumption of excess land alloted to educational institutions beyond the prescribed norm.

Earlier, the CAG in its report (civil) for the year ended March 31, 2011 had rapped the state revenue department for acquiring nearly 5000 acres of land for six mega industries including Posco India and Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) by invoking emergency provisions without fulfilling the conditions prescribed under Land Acquisition Act-1894.

An audit scrutiny of these land acquisition cases revealed that 4967.08 acres of land valued at Rs 165 crore (approximate present market value Rs 901.30 crore) were acquired between July 2002 and March 2011 for establishment of industries by six promoters- Aditya Aluminium Ltd (Sambalpur)-2021.41 acres, Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd (Sambalpur)-608.67 acres, Viraj Steel & Energy Ltd (Sambalpur)-2.58 acres, VAL (Kalahandi)-826.56 acres, Dhamra Port Company Ltd (Bhadrak)-1070 acres and Posco India Ltd (Jagatsinghpur)-437.86 acres.