Haryana has made available thousands of acres of land for purchase by Chinese companies, State government officials told potential investors here on Wednesday, in an effort to court investment into newly planned industrial bases.
Haryana officials told The Hindu that the China Development Bank (CDB) — the powerful State-run bank that is responsible for much of China’s outward investment — had recently visited one potential site — a sprawling 6,000-acre site in Gohana within which, they were told, land “was available for them to purchase” for developing industrial estates.
The Chinese officials were also shown a 3,664-acre site in Kharkoda, around 50 km away from New Delhi.
In a bid to court Chinese investment, a delegation of officials from Haryana is, this week, visiting Beijing and Shanghai.
On Wednesday, the officials made a presentation to potential investors. The ease of purchasing land was emphasised as one of the State’s biggest selling points.
The potential Chinese investors were told that they would be given a guarantee that land would be allotted in only 15 to 20 days if they made a certain minimum investment and presented a suitable project report. The deal, investors were told, could even be settled through just a telephone conversation, if the report was approved.
In prime ‘category A’ land, such as sites located close to Gurgaon and New Delhi, a minimum investment of 30 million yuan (Rs.30 crore) would secure an allotment. Land in category B locations, such as Panipat, would require a 20 million yuan (Rs.20 crore) fixed asset investment, according to the allotment policy.
Tarun Bajaj, Managing Director of the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC), told investors that unlike in China, where the State controls ownership of industrial land, the titles “would be in your name”, and that they would be “free to sell the land without encumbrances”.
The State government, he said, had also earmarked around 300 to 500 acres to specifically develop a cluster of Chinese enterprises.
The China Development Bank team visited sites in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, during a visit aimed at examining possible sites for Chinese industrial parks. The Chinese government is also thought to be considering locations in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu for the parks.
Haryana officials discounted the proposition that their land policy might fuel speculative investments from Chinese companies, which would, legally, be free to sell land shortly after making their acquisitions.
S. S. Dhillon, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Haryana, said the government could examine inserting conditionalities into the deals that would require a certain level of investment every year, failing which the company would have to sell back land at the purchased price.
“The idea is to promote manufacturing activity, not to speculate on that”, he said.
Mr. Dhillon added that the government was also seeking Chinese investment in two railway corridors that had been proposed, a 150 km-route from Delhi to Gurgaon and Rajasthan, and a 90-km line linking Delhi, Panipat and other towns. So far, the government had only spoken with Japanese firms. “With the experience, the Chinese have in high speed rails, we are open to their participation,” he said.
