Government halts industrial projects approved without land

Several industrial projects worth tens of crores have been put on hold after the government found glaring lapses in the way they had been approved.

In six districts, including Bengaluru Urban, industrial projects were approved by the District-Level Single-Window Clearance Committee even as no land was available with the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB). Instead, approvals were given ‘subject to land availability’, according to a government document DH has accessed.

This comes at a time when the government is pushing for ease-of-doing-business reforms.

As per procedure, all investment proposals seeking establishment of units in the industrial areas developed by the KIADB need to be placed before the Land Audit Committee. This committee reviews the proposal, makes sure that the KIADB industrial area has the necessary basic infrastructure, checks the usefulness of the plots and, more importantly, looks at whether or not land is available in the first place.

“But, the joint directors of district industries centres are placing proposals of up to Rs 15 crore directly before the district-level committees (headed by deputy commissioners) without taking them to the land audit committee... despite land not available in KIADB industrial areas, it has been found that projects are being cleared saying ‘subject to land availability’.

It has come to the government’s notice that such approvals have been given more by the district-level committees in Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Kolar, Chikballapur, Ramanagara and Tumakuru,” the document, which is a government order, states.

Apparently, the discrepancy continued despite directions from the government that district-level approvals should not be given without a “written assurance” or a “written report” that land was indeed available for projects.

In these districts, the industrialists concerned had the approval letter and applied for KIADB land, but were pushed from pillar to post due to unavailability of land. They began approaching the Commerce & Industries department, the order said.

The anomaly came up for discussion recently at a meeting chaired by Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar. It was decided that all such projects should be put on hold.

When contacted, Commerce & Industries principal secretary Gaurav Gupta confirmed this. “We are trying to resolve the matter wherever such issues have come up and wherever difficulties have crept in. Resolution is the objective of this government order,” he said.

The order, while freezing such projects approved on ‘subject to land availability’, has reiterated the procedure to be followed.