Uttarakhand govt plans JV with NEPA

Setting its eyes on 803 acres of vacant land at Udhamsingh Nagar district, the Uttarakhand government is working on a plan to set up a joint venture company with NEPA Ltd, a newsprint manufacturing public sector undertaking.

The move came after chief minister Vijay Bahuguna met union heavy industry and public enterprises minister Praful Patel last Friday at New Delhi. Bahuguna urged Patel to transfer back the 803 acres of land which had earlier been allocated to NEPA limited at Hempur in Udham Singh Nagar district saying the land was not being utilised by the company.

The 803-acre agriculture land was given to the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) in 1987 for setting up a paper factory by NEPA.

As the land was for agriculture in the state government’s documents, NEPA did not set up the factory. Hence the land was neither utilised for industrial purpose nor the local people got any benefit out of it, Bahuguna told Patel. Since then, NEPA is having 106 hectares of eucalyptus plantation in the Hempur land.

“The meeting between our chief minister and Union heavy industry minister was very fruitful. We will set up a joint venture company with NEPA on 100 acres of land. Rest of the land would be transferred to the state government, which in turn can further be utilised for industrialisation,” said Rakesh Sharma, principal secretary, industrial development.

Sharma claimed the state was reeling under shortage of land to establish new projects, which was a big hindrance in the process of creating new job opportunities.

During the meeting with the chief minister, Patel assured that he would take all possible steps to hand over 803 acres of land to the hill state.