Odisha Targets Creation Of 1 Lakh Acres Land Bank By June

BHUBANESWAR: With most the industries facing land acquisition hurdles in Odisha, the state government has asked the district collectors to complete the acquisition of one lakh acres of land for the creation of land bank by June end this year.

The acquired land would be reserved for the industrial purpose.

Industries secretary Sanjeev Chopra in a letter has asked all district collectors to complete the land acquisition process by the end of June. He asked the Collectors to direct the concerned Tehsildars for processing of the lease proposals observing the formalities by the revenue and disaster management department.

“It is pertinent to mention that the state government has mandated Idco for the creation of a land bank of at least one lakh acres by June 30, 2016, to attract investors for the establishment of industries in the state. The chief minister is also reviewing the progress from time to time”, said Chopra, who is also the chairman of Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco).

He said Idco had filed requisition for government land measuring 76,721.94 acres under land bank scheme in different districts.

“Accordingly, out of the total field area 12,698.93 acres has been prioritised as category ‘A’ for sanction of the lease in favour of Idco and 64,023.01 acres as category ‘B’ to be kept as reserved at the district level for industrial purpose,” said the Idco CMD.

The government has identified lands in two categories for the creation of the land bank. Under Category A, the land would be leased out to Idco by the district collector on the requisition for immediate use for the establishment of industries and under Category B, the land would be kept reserved at the district level for industrial purpose.

With industries demanding land more than the required land, Idco would assess the actual requirement of land for the industry through an expert committee, said sources.

Notably, several industries are facing hand acquisition hurdle in the state resulting a delay in setting up their projects. Posco is the biggest example in the matter. Local people opposed the proposed Rs 52,000 crore project and did not allow to cede their land.