Industries may have to pay more for govt land in Odisha

Procurement of government land by industries in Odisha is set to get dearer with the state government deciding to fix cost of such land at benchmark value, a departure from the existing system of offering government land at pre-determined rates.

The decision comes close on the heels of clearing of the new Land Acquisition Bill by an empowered group of Central ministers.

While the cost of land had escalated, the government land rates in Odisha were not revised accordingly. The state government which had constituted three committees to consider possibility of benchmarking cost of government land has now entrusted the responsibility on its investment promotion agency- Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha Ltd (Ipicol).

 

"Ipicol has been asked to examine modalities for benchmark valuation of government land. This means that government land will no longer be offered to industries at a fixed rate. The decision has been taken since land cost has escalated significantly”, said G Mathivathanan, chairman and managing director (CMD) said after a meeting of the State Level Single Window Clearance Authority. The body chaired by the state chief secretary B K Patnaik is empowered to clear fresh investment proposals not exceeding Rs 1000 crore.

The state government will also effect some changes to its existing Industrial Policy Resolution (IPR)- 2007. While the existing IPR mentions four different zones where government land is to be acquired for industrial purpose, the amended IPR will have only two zones- the highly industrialized zone comprising Bhubaneswar and Cuttack and second zone for the remainder of the state.

The state government has decided not to offer concessions to industries in land parcels falling within the limits of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC). Similarly, no concessions will be provided to highly polluting industries with low employment potential. The quantum of concessions is yet to be decided and it will vary depending on sectors. Maximum concessions will be offered to sub-stations proposed to be established by Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (OPTCL) and distribution utilities.

Meanwhile, Ipicol has been asked to study the best practices of states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to boost investments in IT and ITes (information technology enabled services) sectors.