Two and half decades after the acquisition of 3,000 acres of land for a steel plant proposed by Tata Steel at Gopalpur of Odisha’s Ganjam district, less than 10% of the land parcel has been put to use for industrial and other purposes, Odisha Government informed the State Assembly.
Land rights activists and environmentalists demanded that the unused land be immediately returned to its original owners as the company had failed to utilise it.
As many as seven industrial projects have been allotted to 214.13 acres of land which is less than 10% of the land acquired during the late 1990s.
In response to a query, Pratap Keshari Deb, State Industries Minister, said Tata Steel Special Economic Zone Limited had been allotted 1,235.385 acres of land while 206.685 acres had been returned to Kalipalli villagers only on October 31, 2022 by a Cabinet decision.
About 3,000 acres was originally acquired for a shore-based steel plant proposed by Tata Steel in 1996-97. However, the plan was dropped due to some logistic reasons. The land parcel lay unutilised for more than 15 years before a Special Economic Zone was set up with Tata Steel acting as anchor investor.
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Smartchem Technologies Limited (STL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Deepak Fertilisers And Petrochemicals Corporation Limited (DFPCL), which has been allotted 40.24 acres of land in the SEZ area, has proposed to produce 377 kilo-tonnes per annum (KTPA) of technical ammonium nitrate, a vital component for mining of coal, limestone, steel and in the pharmaceutical industry. The company has proposed to invest ₹2,300 crore.
The project is likely to be completed in 36 months. The company has recently resolved issues regarding construction of boundary wall. Other smaller projects too have been planned with various timelines.
“As per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, the government should have returned the land to their original owners as the same was not used for the purpose for which it was acquired,” said Prafulla Samantara, environmentalist and winner of Goldman Environmental Prize.
Mr. Samantara said, “It was a desperate attempt to keep the land parcel under one’s possession despite failure to use it. Landless villagers should be allowed to carry out agriculture in their own land.”
Similarly, Narayan Reddy, leader of Communist Party of India (CPI) who had spearheaded anti-land acquisition protest in Gopalpur, said, “Residents of Chamakhandi, Paikapada and Laxmipur want their land back. Over 1,300 acres of land across two villages, Chamakhandi and Laxmipur, is under illegal possession of Tata Steel. Villagers are legitimate owners of this land parcel. The government cannot give free hand to a corporate house which is busy sub-leasing land.”
Mr. Reddy said it was rare that such vast stretch of land could be used for industrial purposes after two and half decades of acquisition.
The government informed the Assembly that during Make In Odisha conclave 2022, it had received 741 proposals from corporate houses who had expressed their intent to invest ₹10,48,807 crore. It could not be ascertained as to how many proposals have been received for Gopalpur Industrial Park.
