KoPT aims for 40pc jump in land rental income in 2 years

The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) is looking to increase its annual lease rental income by 40 per cent over the next two years, its chairman Vinit Kumar said.
Kumar said among the identified areas of focus, land is one of the top priorities to jack up port income, he said.
"We are aiming to increase our lease rental income by about 40 per cent to Rs 330-350 crore a year in two years, from about Rs 230 crore now," he told PTI in an interview.
KoPT, however, was awaiting township policy guidelines from the shipping ministry for commercial exploitation of some prime land that can generate up to Rs 1,000 crore, he said.

Kumar had yesterday held a meeting with existing and prospective lessees of port land to resolve issues and make the lease system more transparent.
KoPT will soon float tender for 20 plots totaling 40-45 acres for lease e-auction, to be conducted by state-owned MSTC.

The Port Trust is likely to e-auction about 200 acres of land for lease in phases, Kumar said.
With good demand, the new bidding system is expected to push rentals up, he said.
The KoPT chairman is also looking at ways to settle about 1,800 land litigation cases. "I am trying to sit across the table with the litigants for some kind of settlements, at least which are due to minor issues. We are getting good response."

KoPT has close to 4,000 acres of land under its control, out of which around 1,800 acres are used for port, townships and allied activities.