SIDCUL yet to decide on final allotment date

Though the deadline for receiving applications for industrial plots have expired, the State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Ltd (Sidcul) is yet to decide the date for the final allotment.

Sidcul, the government’s nodal agency for industrial development in the state, had invited applications for nearly 100 acres of vacant plots for its key industrial estates of Pantnagar, Haridwar, Kotdwar and Selaquie and an information technology (IT) park at Dehra Dun under the industrial land allotment policy of 2008. On an average, the rate of an industrial plot is around Rs 4,000 per sq metre.

The move to invite fresh application for industrial plots came after the government recently lifted its moratorium on the sale of these vacant plots.

“These applications would be put before the empowered committee which is likely to meet shortly,” a Sidcul official told Business Standard.

The official added: “Sidcul would continue to receive application for the vacant plots even after the expiry of the deadline yesterday. We believe there will be nearly 20-30 applications in the first lot. After clearing this lot, those applications will be taken up which comes after the expiry of the deadline.”

When contacted, Industries Minister Bansidhar Bhagat said a decision for convening the meeting of the empowered committee would be taken shortly. “There is no fixed date for such meeting,” he said. Responding to criticism that the advertisement process for inviting applications for these industrial plots was allegedly faulty, Bhagat said there is nothing wrong with this process. “It is a transparent process. Irrespective of the small or big advertisement, ultimately people go through our website before filling the application forms,” Bhagat said.