The committee report has dozens of such cases of irregularities in transfer of government-owned lands.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has slammed the state revenue and urban development departments, for evasion of revenue to the tune of Rs133 crore, related to government lands in Mumbai, Thane, Pune and adjoining cities. The committee report has dozens of such cases of irregularities in transfer of government-owned lands.
One of the cases mentioned in the report is the 19 acres land in Pune given to Kalyani Steels by the government. However, the group founded Kalyani Carpenters Special Steel in 1999 and asked the government to hand over the land to the new entity. But after the handover, it failed to pay Rs34.60 crore, which was due towards the premium amount (amount paid to the revenue department for the change in the name of the lessee).
Similarly, when Modern Food Industries Limited and its subsidiary Modern Food and Nutrition Industries Limited were merged with Hindustan Unilever, the new company failed to pay Rs27.25 crore for the change of name as per the conditions of the agreement. The new company has approached the government for transfer of the land. The committee has now asked the revenue department to recover the amount in three months and not transfer the land unless the amount is paid. It also has asked the government to take action against the errant officers.
The committee has also alleged that the government land occupied by the Tulip hotel in Juhu was originally occupied by the Hotel Corporation of India, which did not take the requisite permissions before they transferred the land to Tulip Hospitality which manages the Tulip Hotel. Tulip Hospitality owes Rs4.48 crore to the government.
The committee has also recommended that the revenue department take back the 31hectare land in Pune which had been given to SM Dyechem for industrial purposes, as it is forest land and the transfer of this land was not permitted. The report has also stated that the land given to the company in 1992 was not used for the purpose it meant for.
Chairman of the committee Girish Bapat told reporters that the loss to the state exchequer was estimated to be Rs133 crore. "The concerned revenue officers do not pay any heed to the government land that had been transferred to these companies. It was only after the CAG report, that the authorities initiated action," he said.
Bapat also slammed the government for the lukewarm response to PAC recommendations. He said of the 655 recommendations in the past nine years, the government responded to only 302, despite there being a stipulated time of 3 months for its response.
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