The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) on Wednesday signed a pact with the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) to dispose of the immovable properties of lord Jagannath lying unused in Khordha district.
SJTA Chief Administrator Arabinda Padhee and BDA Vice-Chairman Krishan Kumar signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the State Secretariat in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
As per the MoU, the SJTA will identify and demarcate the land intended for disposal and the BDA will take up the infrastructure development the same land after necessary approval. The BDA will carry out disposal process in a time-bound manner and ensure execution of all basic infrastructure development in compact land parcels. The expenditure towards the process will be reimbursed by SJTA, it said.
Dr Padhee told the mediapersons that the SJTA had more than 11,000 acres of land in the district. The SJTA now wants to develop and dispose of about 2500 acres of land in a phased manner. It would handover about 220.790 acres of land to BDA for development in the first phase. The BDA will develop and dispose the land in three years’ time after the transfer. The SJTA hopes to get Rs 1,000 crore out of the land disposal.
The BDA Vice-Chairman said the BDA would get five per cent towards fees for the development and disposal of the lands. He further informed that the BDA would construct residential flats for people belonging to all income groups and also commercial structures before selling them.