Industry body asks govt to stop 99-year lease

Industry body Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (Kassia) president V K Dikshit on Wednesday appealed to the government to allot land up to two acres for 10 years on lease-cum-sale basis, and abolish the 99-year lease system for micro and small industries.

Delivering the keynote at the two-day ‘National Vendor Development Programme-cum-exhibition, IND EXPO’, organised by MSME Development Institute, Bengaluru, in association with KSSIDC, Kassia, Bangalore and Department of Industries and Commerce at MSME Development Institute premises, Rajajinagar Industrial Estate, Dikshit said, “We will not be interested in 99-year lease system. There is a requirement of 10,000 small plots measuring 3,000 sq ft, 5,000 sq ft, and 10,000 sq ft each, to industries all over Karnataka under 10-year lease-cum-sale basis.”

Dikshit added that SMEs should be able to get small land and buildings on sale basis, since small land and buildings are the only life saving for industries.

Karnataka Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Dinesh Gundu Rao feels that 99-year lease system should be abolished. “I can arrange a meeting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and you can address your grievances. Personally, I also agree that the 99-year lease system should be abolished.”

Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation (KSSIDC) Chairman B Gurappa Naidu urged the government to provide bus facilities even in remote areas where SMEs are located, as these companies cannot afford transportation.

A BHEL official said, BHEL-Bengaluru is meeting the requirements of over 20 per cent procurement from MSMEs (micro small and medium enterprises) for the last three years. The official added, BHEL will register SMEs in this exhibition and will make them permanent vendors within a month.