Videocon plant jeopardised on govt order

With the state government ordering the acquired land be returned to the farmers, Videocon’s power project in Chhattisgarh has received a big jolt.

“The state government has ordered the return of 13.65 acres of land acquired from five tribal farmers in Bhada and Gadapali villages of the district,” said Brajesh Chandra Mishra, district collector of Janjgir-Champa.

The land was reportedly purchased by Videocon’s public relations officer Sandeep Kanwar, son of state’s home minister Nankiram Kanwar, for the company’s upcoming 1300-Mw power project. Videocon would need around 960 acres of land for the project.

Reportedly, Sandeep used his political clout to purchase land from farmers for the company, as state laws prohibit non-tribals from buying tribal land. As Sandeep is a tribal, he purchased the land, even as the payment was officially made by Videocon Power Limited.

The development resulted in a political storm as the opposition Congress demanded the home minister’s resignation and the filing of a case against his son. Chief minister Raman Singh, however, gave a clean chit to Nankiram Kanwar.

“The father and son have been living separately since long and, hence, including the minister in the case is not appropriate,” he said.

After probing the matter, the district administration served notices to Sandeep Kanwar and Videocon officials. However, they did not respond, forcing the administration to indict them guilty under Section 165 (6) of the state’s land revenue code and return the purchased land to the real owners. The officials said the land’s registration in the name of Videocon would be scrapped.

The company is yet to start acquiring land for the project, despite receiving approval for 198 acres from the state government last December. The Videocon management, however, denied authorising anyone to purchase land on its behalf.

Company’s vice-president Vishnu Mule said the company had not appointed a third person to purchase land on its behalf. The company was competent enough to acquire land by itself and would do the same in accordance with the rehabilitation policy of the state government, he said.