“State not reaping profit out of land allotment to MNCs”

Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, who is camping in Yelagiri Hills, has, in a statement issued here, denied that the State government is buying land from poor farmers at low price and selling it to multi-national companies (MNCs) at higher price, thereby earning crores of rupees as profit as done by those engaged in real estate business.

Mr. Karunanidhi said that the practice that the government was adopting in the matter of allotting land to big companies, especially foreign ones, was to retain ownership of the land and allot it on long-term lease.

Ever since the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) was established in 1971, the government had tried to establish industrial estates by selecting government ‘poromboke' land not in use, as far as possible.

Wherever sufficient land was not available, it established industrial estates by acquiring dry land and wasteland unfit for cultivation.

“Under any circumstances, valuable agricultural land has not been acquired for the SIPCOT industrial estates.” Out of the 13,490 acres acquired for SIPCOT industrial estates in the last 15 years, wetland accounted for 269 acres, constituting two per cent of the total land. Even this was land that had been found unfit for agricultural use, converted into housing plots and kept vacant.

Compensation paid

For the land acquired, the owners were paid compensation, which was fixed by the land acquisition officer after taking into account the market value and guideline value of the land and local conditions. In case the landowners felt that the amount paid was not sufficient, the Land Acquisition Act had provisions enabling them to appeal and obtain higher compensation.

The government allotted the wasteland so acquired on long-term lease only after converting it into industrial plots by providing all infrastructure facilities required for setting up industries — roads, electricity, water supply, storm water drainage and streetlights — and by calculating the lease amount after taking into account the expenditure on compensation to original land owners, provision of infrastructure facilities and administrative expenses. In the case of MNCs creating infrastructure facilities on their own, the land is allotted to them after deducting the expenses from the lease amount payable.

“SIPCOT has been functioning without any profit motive, solely to facilitate industrial development in the State. Under these circumstances, the act of publishing a false and imaginary news report with the sole intention of casting aspersions on this government is condemnable,” the Chief Minister said.