GIDC BIGGEST LAND GRABBER IN GOA

by JONQUIL SUDHIR (Goan Observer)
The Goa Industrial Development Corporation will control 1,76,94,434 square metres of land in the state if it acquires all the land it proposes to.

THE APPREHENSION that the government is seizing land under a new garb, after the diabolical regional plan 2011 was scrapped, could well be true considering the fact that the Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) plans to have over one crore square metres of Goan land under its control. This was revealed during the recently concluded Legislative Assembly session, when the Chief Minister replied to a question by Laxmikant Parsekar.

Chief Minister Digamber Kamat replied that the GIDC has already acquired 14,30,534 sq ms between January 1, 2006 and July 31, 2008. Out of this, a whopping 13,11,731 sq ms has been acquired for a food park and industrial estate in Quitol, Quepem, while the GIDC is in the process of further acquiring another 1,28,000 sq ms. Betul Hospitality Pvt Ltd has already been allotted 4,28,155 sq ms so that it can set up “auxiliary services to the food park including hospitality and service sector units. Why a hospitality company needs over four lakh square metres of land to set up hospitality and service sector units has not been explained, raising doubts that a mammoth project, initially planned under the Regional Plan 2011, is coming up in Quitol.

CLAREMONT
IT will be recalled that though the government had earmarked a large plot in Quepem for a food park, it was later discovered that a UK-based company called Claremont International was hard-selling a plush resort complex proposed to be built on the property. Though its website claimed the resort was to be set up in Canacona, the survey numbers matched those of the plots allotted for the Food Park in Quitol.

Boasting of a 150-acre plot with “significant beach frontage”, Claremont’s plans for the complex included a lagoon, a five star hotel, over 200 suites, 800 villas, a wedding hall, conference facilities, a harbour, a spa, swimming pools, tennis courts, a casino and even a cinema! Claiming that construction would begin in October 2007 and end in December 2009, Claremont International had even invited buyers to invest in the property. Since no details have been provided about the companies that will be allotted plots in the ‘food park’, there are serious concerns that the food park is a mere cover-up for Claremont’s grandiose housing complex.

LAND HAUL
OVER the last two years, the GIDC has been in the process of acquiring 13,30,461 sq ms. The majority of this land – 5,38,715 sq ms – is being acquired to expand the Tuem Industrial Estate in Pernem. The GIDC plans on expanding the Sancoale Industrial Estate and the Bethora Industrial Estate by another 1,81,200 sq ms and 1,81,100 sq ms respectively. The Corporation is also acquiring land to develop the Cacora, Pilerne and Verna industrial estates.

In addition to this, the Goa Industrial Development Corporation also proposes to acquire 1,49,33,439 sq ms. The GIDC appears to have set its sights on the hitherto relatively untouched Canacona, where it proposes to acquire 94,05,334 sq ms. While 20,00,000 sq ms is planned for Phase-I of an industrial estate, 51,80,259 sq ms has been proposed for Phase-II. The remaining 22,25,075 sq ms has been proposed for an industrial estate in Poinguinim. The second larger land acquisition planned is for an industrial estate in Melauli, Sattari where 13,81,225 sq ms is the GIDC target. It also wants 13,49,500 sq ms for a knowledge park in Cortalim and 3,54,445 sq ms for an industrial estate in Dhargal, Pernem.

The Corporation also wants to acquire land for numerous other projects across the state – these include expansion of the Cuncolim, Verna, Colvale and Pilerne industrial estates as well as for a knowledge park in Cortalim. Interestingly, the GIDC also plans to acquire 43,560 sq ms to construct an approach road to land acquired by it in Sancoale!

INDUSTRIAL ESTATES
FROM January 2006 to July 31, 2008, 259 plots have been allotted to industries while the government has admitted to allotting 11 plots to Special Economic Zones (in the reply, the Chief Minister has not stated that the land will be revoked). The residents of Verna have been agitating against the intrusion of industry on their land and replies to assembly questions reveal that they have good reason to be aggrieved. Over the past year-and-a-half, the GIDC has allotted 29,75,399 sq ms of land to 89 companies in the Verna Industrial Estate.

Goan entrepreneurs may be even more irked as small-scale local companies have been allotted the land at a rate between Rs. 650 and Rs. 1300 per square metre, while bigwigs like the Rahejas and Inox Mercantile Co Pvt Ltd have been allotted land in Phase-IV of the industrial estate for Rs. 600 per sq m (for main project areas) and Rs. 100 per sq m (for approach roads). Paradigm Logistics & Distribution Pvt Ltd has been allotted 3,86,665 sq ms. K Raheja Corp Pvt Ltd and Inox Mercantile Co Pvt Ltd were allotted 10,59,118 sq ms and 5,19,832 sq ms respectively. Planetview Mercantile Pvt Ltd was given 1,43,176 sq ms and Max Grow Finlease Pvt Ltd, 2,03,445 sq ms. Giovanni Karl Vaz, former MLA of Mormugao, was allotted land in the Verna Industrial Estate for Rs. 1300 per sq m to construct a hotel.

In the Honda Industrial Estate, a total of 1,31,958 sq ms has been allotted to seven companies at the rate of Rs. 120 to Rs. 300 per sq m. While 1429 sq ms of land has been allotted to two companies in the Pilerne Industrial Estate at the rate of Rs. 225 to Rs. 400 per sq m. At the Kundaim Industrial Estate, 20 companies have been allotted a total of 90,299 sq ms for Rs. 150-500 per sq m while 67,457.50 sq ms in the Shiroda Industrial Estate has been allotted to Miditech Pvt Ltd by the GIDC Board for Rs. 275 per sq m. In Pissurlem, 19 companies have been allotted land. Incidentally, Nicomet Industries Ltd and Sunrise Zinc Ltd, steel rolling mills which were found to be highly polluting, in the Cuncolim Industrial Estate were also allotted 20,800 sq ms and 10,000 sq ms respectively for land fill sites!

UNUTILISED
FURTHER adding to the speculation that land has been allotted to parties with dubious intentions is the fact that 118 plots have been left unutilised, while only 97 plots have been utilised for the same purpose it had been allotted for. Though Olinda Miranda was allotted 1000 sq ms for storage in the Colvale Industrial Estate in March 2006, she is yet to use it. A total of 30,615.5 sq ms has been left unused in the Honda Industrial Estate while 40,829 sq ms is yet to be utilised in the Kundaim Industrial Estate. After opposition from Goans against SEZs, comapanies allotted land n Phase – IV of the Verna Industrial Estate have not been able to progress with their projects. Peninsula Pharma Research Centre Pvt Ltd has also been unable to set up shop in Sancoale for the same reason.

In the Verna Industrial Estate, of the 89 companies that were allotted land, 66 have left the land unused. Prominent among these are Karl Vaz (3036 sq ms), Lupin Ltd (33,000 sq ms) and Roopa Kunkolienkar. In the Sanguem Industrial Estate, 94,120 sq ms has not been put to use; among those who have failed to use the land are Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd (38,000 sq ms) and Dinesh Dessai (25,100 sq ms). Karl Vaz’ property was later transferred to Muktar Minerals Pvt Ltd while Roopa Kunkolienkar’s was transferred to Shaikh Nadim Haveri. Three separate plots allotted to Power Engineering Pvt Ltd at the Tuem Industrial Estate was transferred to Shree Mahalsa Power Rentals, Precision Components Pvt Ltd and Genset Controls Pvt Ltd, all sister concerns of Power Engineering Pvt Ltd.

The fact that the Goa Industrial Development Corporation has acquired and continues to acquire large tracts of land across the length and breadth of the state, despite the fact that many of these plots remain unused, perhaps gives credence to the belief that the projects proposed under the Regional Plan 2011 are still alive and may proceed through a back door – the GIDC.