An expert panel will be set up by the state industry department to frame regulations governing the re-allotment of industrial land. This was decided by the board of directors of Adityapur Industrial Area Development Authority (Aiada) in Adityapur, Seraikela-Kharsawan, on Monday.
State industry secretary and Aiada chairman A.P. Singh, who presided over the three-and-a-half-hour meeting starting from 11.30am at Aiada Bhavan, said the matter had been hanging fire since long and had to be sorted out urgently. Others present included Aiada managing director and Seraikela-Kharsawan deputy commissioner (DC) Kripanand Jha, industry department director Vandana Dadel, Aiada secretary Srivendra Singh and East Singhbhum DC Himani Pande.
"Aiada managing director will head the expert committee. Two representatives from among industrialists and as many experts from management institutions will be part of the committee," said Singh.
Curiously, Aiada, Jharkhand's largest industry hub, lacks an industrial land re-allotment policy, which makes it vulnerable to tricky situations involving big-ticket investor dealings. Re-allotment of plots ' land being the most precious commodity in enterprise nowadays ' occurs if a company has vacated it.
Aiada can re-allot land to another enterprise, but the process needs legal clarity.
Singh pointed out the more they delayed resolving the re-allotment issue, the greater would be the revenue loss. "The expert committee will be formed in 10 days. We expect it to submit its recommendation to frame a regulation on land allotment within 45 days at the most," said the top industry department official.
The industry secretary added that Jharkhand High Court had heard a land dispute case between two companies registered under Aiada over re-allotment. The court had asked the industry department to frame a regulation for re-allotment of land across industrial areas ' Aiada, Biada, Riada being the most notable ' and get it published in the state government gazette.
The confusion over re-allotment was most visible in 2010, when auto ancillary unit Acropolis Private Limited and fabrication company Hardrocks fought a pitched legal battle over a five-acre plot in Adityapur industrial area. It bared open the fact that no policy or regulation over re-allotment existed.
