land is a scarce resource and, obviously, its value appreciates and increases. It is imperative in public interest that Government land and land acquired by the Government for “public purpose” are so allocated as not to be hoarded as non-performing assets and lead to enormous unearned income/profits in the hands of a few.
The State’s largesse is not to be so distributed as to enrich the already affluent sections through nonperforming speculative investments, particularly in land. The situation is worse when the Government land is encroached upon and utilised for private gain.
The reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India relating to the Odisha Government for the years ending March of 2010, 2011 and 2012 presents a very disturbing scenario.
The CAG report of 2010 indicates that as per the OGlS Act,1962, if the allotted land or any part thereof is not fully utilised within the prescribed period of three years for the specified purpose, it was to be resumed to the Government. In Sundargarh district, out of 16,845.375 acres of the Government land leased out during 1985-2004 to seven companies/corporations/private parties, 5,061.523 acres (30 per cent) was not utilised. There was no mechanism for verification of the land use. The Collector stated (November 2009) that the concerned officers had been instructed to resume the land. However, no action has been taken after lapse of years. Similarly, during a joint physical inspection (November 2009) of the land leased out to three societies/industrial units, it was noticed that in one case (0.95 acre) the entire land was lying unutilised while in the remaining two cases (3.98 acres), construction activities were at initial stages. A joint physical inspection (December 2009) of the land in the presence of tehsildars revealed that in three cases, land measuring 6.17 acres leased during May 1991 to December 2004 were utilised for purposes other than specified.
The CAG report of 2011 indicates that in four projects, both leased Government land (1,141.98 acres) and acquired private land (4,151.24 acres) valued at Rs 66.68 crore (market value Rs 2,631.98 crore in November 2011) handed over to the IDCO for allotment to four promoters of industries (Aditya Aluminium in Sambalpur, TISCO in Gopalpur, Dharani Sugar in Bhadrak, Shamuka Beach Project at Puri) were not even put to use fully/ partially for periods ranging from three to 15 years. In case of Aditya Aluminium, land had been acquired invoking “emergency” provisions under Section 17(4) of the lA Act. As land cost was increasing day by day and the present value of such unutilised land had appreciated approximately to Rs 2,631.98 crore against payment of Rs 66.88 crore paid by IDCO/promoters, non-utilisation of land for intended purposes led to hoarding of land.
It has further been revealed during test check that 1,142.979 acres of Government land leased at Rs 8.68 crores (current market value Rs 567.46 crore) during 1995 to 2006 to Root Corporation ltd, Mumbai (one acre) and IDCO for in turn allotment to three promoters of industries (1,141.979 acres) were lying unutilised for five to 15 years as of March 2011. No action had been taken by the Government for resumption of the lands.
A joint physical inspection (2011) of leased land in Kalahandi revealed that in three cases 1.16 acres out of 1.56 acres involving five leases during 1987 to 2002 to two private persons for industrial purpose (1.12 acres) and one other body (Secretary, Communist Party of India (M), Kalahandi district) were utilised for purposes other than intended. Two instances where lands were allotted for industry at concessional rate were partly used for residential/commercial purpose while remaining area was left unused. Though land was allotted to the CPI(M) for construction of office building, the allottee used it partly for commercial purpose. The Collector had not taken any action against the land occupiers.
In the MoUs, the Government extended substantial concessions to industries in terms of commitment of land. However, the land utilisation was inadequately monitored by IPICOl, IDCO and concerned departments. Out of the 89 MoUs signed during 20011-12, 30,900.177 acres of land were provided to 52 industries as of March 2012. In cases of 24 industries, more than 50 per cent of their land requirement had already been provided. But in 10 of the 24 industries, even documents related to financial closure were not submitted by the promoters as of March 2012. Only two of 52 industries had started production as of March 2013. Out of 28 test-checked non-MoU industries, which had been allotted 10,664.803 acres, only 10 commenced production. The monitoring of end-use of land was inadequate. The IDCO’s divisional staff did not conduct any physical inspection of industrial units in the IEs during 2001-12 to ascertain the status of land use at regular intervals.
The OIIDC Act provides for resumption of land by IDCO in case of non-utilisation of land. Further, the allotment orders and the lease deeds executed by IDCO required utilisation of allotted land within the prescribed period and to commence civil construction on the allotted property within six months and to start commercial production within two/three years. In the event of the breach of the conditions, besides others, the allotment was to be cancelled and the entrepreneur would be evicted from the premises and the land was to be resumed. It was found that 16,828.103 acres of land allotted to 1,120 industries remained unutilised as of March 2012.
A joint inspection (July/November 2012/January 2013) of land use by all 52 MoU companies revealed that 11,447.449 acres of land provided to 24 of them remained unutilised. No steps were taken to resume the land. In 16 of 28 test-checked non-MoU large industries, 4,694.673 acres were unutilised for periods of two to five years.
Those who derived undeserved favour and subsequent protection included well-known industrial houses and have been named in the CAG report. The Government, while accepting (April 2013) the facts stated that show-cause notices have been served to the erring industries. But no reply was offered as to why appropriate enforcement action such as resumption of land was not carried out.
It was found that the IDCO divisional staff did not conduct regular physical inspections of industrial units to ascertain the status of land use at regular intervals leading to mis-utilisation of lands/sheds remaining unnoticed for eight to 30 years in 521 cases. Information furnished by IDCO revealed that 521 industrial units allotted with 219.732 acres of land valued at Rs 127.55 crore at IDCO rate in the IEs of IDCO were utilising the land for purposes other than intended such as hostel (20), hotel (4), godown (188), sub-letting to others (144), etc. However, IDCO did not take any steps for cancellation of the allotment and resumption of the lands.
These details speak for themselves. The Government and its instrumentalities have facilitated land hoarding by the privileged few. The favoured ones have further enriched themselves through unauthorised permission to mortgage such land, quite often acquired from the impoverished farmers. If you have the clout and the skill, you could enrich yourself and turn into a landlord in the garb of an industrialist with no ceiling restrictions on the quantum of land at your command. In the process, the small agriculturist would stand deprived of his sole source livelihood. Food security may have been endangered, but there is a ceiling on family-held agricultural land. By the stroke of the pen “agricultural” land subject to ceiling could be converted into “industrial” land bereft of any ceiling. What a paradoxical and ironical scenario! And this definitely concerns us.
(The writer, a Senior Advocate, is a former All India Service officer, a former diplomat, a former editor and a former Advocate General of Odisha. jayantdas@hotmail.com)