The Industries Department is understood to have served notices on 19 major companies who have violated the lease pact with the government for starting ventures.
The action has been initiated on the basis of a decision to rescind the lease agreement of investors who fail to start ventures within six months on allotting the land earmarked for industrial purposes.
Official sources told The Hindu in Thiruvananthapuram that the companies put on notice include those who had taken land at the Kinfra parks in Kochi and Palakkad.
As per the original pact signed between the government and the investors, it was mandated to develop minimum facilities at the earliest and commission the projects within two years of signing the agreement.
While the enthusiasm of some investors ended up with the construction of sheds, others chose to leave the land idle and had not commenced any activity in violation of the agreement. There had been complaints that many entrepreneurs were holding the allotted land on the premise of launching major projects.
Demand for land
The immediate cause for issuing the notices was the surge in demand for land from prospective investors following the Emerging Kerala meet held in Kochi and the mounting pressure on land resources, the sources said.
The Industries Department had laid out a structure for utilising the land allotted for new projects. On approving a proposal, the entrepreneur should commence work within six months or the government would cancel the agreement and take back the land. This had been pointed out as a move to identify genuine investors and weed out those who attempted to hold government land on flimsy grounds.
