‘Industry-friendly’ state allows four companies to hold ceiling surplus land

He also said that the state government has accepted the recommendations of the group of ministers that was set up to work out ways to revive Haldia Petrochemical Limited,which is desperately looking for finance. All the recommendations will be executed by West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC). A four-member committee led by IAS officer C M Bachhawat has been set up to monitor the execution of the recommendations by WBIDC. It was learnt that the state government is mulling the proposal of selling its stake in the HPC to raise funds. “We are in touch with financial institutions and banks to get funds,” Chatterjee said.

The Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd wants to set up a 800 MW power substation on 180 acres of land in Coochbehar and Jalpaiguri. The agency,which procured land directly from the farmers,was allowed to hold land beyond the ceiling limit. ACC Cement wants to invest

Rs 700 crore to set up a cement factory at Kharagpur that will generate 500 employment opportunities. SPS Steel and Power is willing to set up a steel plant by investing

Rs 5,000 crore in Purulia and employ about 15,000 people. Ankit Metal and Power Limited has proposed to set up a steel unit in Barjora where it would invest Rs 1,050 crore. The project will employ about 600 people. All these companies wrote to the government seeking exemption from Section 14 Y of West Bengal Land Reforms Act 1955.

“We have approved their proposal for the sake of industry and employment,” Chatterjee said. The state government is also considering the proposal of another industrial house,he added.

According to Section 14 Y of the West Bengal Land Reforms Act 1955,the maximum quantum of land that a private company can possess is 24.2 acre. The state government has recently amended Section 14 Y of the Act and extended its ambit in order to make it industry-friendly. Following the amendment,private enterprises willing to set up specified projects were brought under the ambit of the Act. “In the first phase,the state government had allowed 11 industrial houses to hold ceiling surplus land. Today,four more companies,which sought exemption from Section 14 Y,were given approval,” Chatterjee added.