RTI reveals industrial land misuse

[ganpat1956]

As Reported by : Jayaraj Sivan, TNN (15 July 2008)

CHENNAI: An instance of the government's lopsided industrial policy has come to light following an application filed under the Right to Information act. It involves the allotment of about one acre of government land worth about Rs 2 crore at Molasur village in Sriperumbudur taluk through the Tamil Nadu Small Industries Development Corporation Ltd. (formerly SIDCO) to 10 small scale industrialists.

The RTI application, filed in May this year by T Retna Pandian, general secretary of Fifth Pillar India, a voluntary organization fighting against corruption, has exposed misuse of the land for non-industrial purposes. The 10 plots of land, each with a tiny shed and costing Rs 18,000, were allotted to 10 beneficiaries in 1981 for manufacturing safety matches. The allotment order of June 22, 1981 said that the beneficiaries should utilise the land "only for manufacturing safety matches."

Without prior approval of SIDCO and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation (TIIC), it was not to be used for any other purpose. Apart from stipulating that production should be started within three months from allotment, SIDCO also prohibited subletting the land to others. The 10 allottees have violated all these conditions.

Even after 27 years of allotment, matches have not been made in these sheds. While some modified the sheds to rear cattle, others converted them into residences-cum-shops. The more industrious among them even managed to sell their plots without any valid document (the allottees have not been given sale deeds so far.)

With players like Nokia, Samsung, Flextronix and Dell setting up shop in Sriperumbudur, the real estate prices in the area have already gone through the roof. And, the Molasur units are very close to the proposed Greenfield airport on outskirts of the city. For the allottees, it perhaps made more sense to capitalize on the real estate boom than to manufacture matches.

In its reply to Pandian's queries, SIDCO said it came to know about the misuse of the land only on April 23, 2001. The same day, it sent notices to the allottees to start match industries "at the earliest." On April 30, 2002, it sent another notice asking why their allotments should not be cancelled.

Since then, till Pandian raked up the issue two months ago, SIDCO did nothing.

Strangely, through a letter dated June 30, 2008, it again asked the allottees to start match units "at the earliest." It also advised them to approach its general manager's office in case they required machinery and raw material or technical assistance.

TANSIDCO chairman and managing director D Rajendran told TOI: "We have gone by the decision taken by our board two months ago to give one more chance to all land allottees across the state, which have not commenced production for long. A lenient view is taken because all of them have paid the full cost. We are asking them to start their units within six months to nine months. The deadline will be decided on a case-by-case basis."

Asked what his corporation planned to do with those who had already sold their plots, he said, "We will review those cases and if it is found that the land has been sold, we will cancel the allotment."

Source: RTI reveals industrial land misuse -Chennai-Cities-The Times of India