Odisha rejects CAG's claim,cancels land allotment to 313 units

Rejecting the CAG report which raised question on the state owned IDCO's authority to allow industries to mortgage land for raising loans, Odisha government today said it has cancelled the land allotment of 313 units and issued show cause notices to 1260 others on charge of misutilising land allotted to them.
"Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) Act, 1980 read with the Transfer of Property Act, 1982 permits the IDCO to allow industries for raising finance," industries minister Debi Prasad Mishra said while replying a debate in the Assembly.
Mishra also said that the column "General Power" in the IDCO Act, 1080 also empowers the state owned corporation to issue no objection certificates to industries which wanted to avail loans from financial institutions like banks.

Earlier, the CAG on its report on General and Social Sector (volume-3) placed in the Assembly recently observed: "IDCO irregularly conferred mortgage rights to the lease deeds executed with 52 MoU based and 54 non-MoU industries while handing over possession of 46732.894 acre of land, even though such power was not vested with IDCO by the state government."
The industries which have been allotted land by IDCO have meanwhile raised loan amounting about Rs 52,000 crore from different financial institutions.
The opposition Congress and BJP members slammed the state's ruling party accusing it of raising election expenses from industries by using IDCO.

"How can the IDCO issue NOC and allow industries to raise loans when it does not have such power," asked Congress chief whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati.
BJP member K V Singhdeo also raised similar issue and alleged that the industries have grossly mis-utilised the government land after taking them on lease through IDCO.
"While industrial plots have been utilised for residential purpose, it is found that institutions are built on such land," Singhdeo pointed out.