Panaji : Goan industry is opposing any further allotment of land to special category projects in industrial estates once the internal cap is reached.
Industry representative bodies – the Goa Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) and the Goa State Industries Association (GSIA) – said that Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) must go by the rule which says that 40 per cent of lands in industrial estates are reserved for special projects approved by the Goa Investment Promotion & Facilitation Board (Goa- IPB).
They said that GIDC must uphold transparency in land allotment by going by the regulations made by it.
GIDC in its latest board meeting received three applications under special category projects from Acme Print Media, Industrial Engineers and Navin Pharma Services, for total 12,000 square metre of land at the Verna Industrial Estate, where the 40 per cent limit is already exhausted.
Objecting to the land allotment, the GCCI and the GSIA pointed out that GIDC must follow the existing law.
Industry suggested that GIDC maintain the current cap by not allotting further land for special projects at Verna or else amend the allotment regulations and apply it uniformly.
GIDC managing director Pravimal Abhishek on Monday told ‘The Navhind Times’ that the three applications are “old, approved proposals of the IPB and therefore considered for approval.
He said that GIDC has decided to let the government take the final call on the said projects.
At the 396th meeting, the board members also put on hold the decision of land allotment to Goa Shipyard Ltd, (GSL) for 2,03,650 sq m of land at the Sancoale Industrial Estate at a concessional premium rate of Rs 3,500 per sq m.
GIDC had conveyed to GSL that the land at Sancoale is repossessed SEZ land which as per government direction is sold through auctioning at an auction rate of Rs 5,700 per sq m. Previously GIDC had approved 80,000 sq m of land to GSL at the Verna Industrial Estate. Subsequently, GSL changed its plans and requested allotment of land in Sancoale, citing operational and logistics advantages.
In the revised application, GSL said that it needs early allotment of land at Sancoale on nomination basis instead of auction due to its strategic importance as a defence PSU.
GSL sought for a lower rate of Rs 3,500 per sq m, instead of the auction rate which is higher. It also asked for the construction of an approach road to the Sancoale estate as the existing approach road is narrow and misaligned with the ODP.
The board has decided to evaluate the GSL proposal owing to the demand for lower rate as well as the cost for developing the approach road.
