Having landed in a soup following allotment of land on the Bolgatty Island on lease for the Lulu Group to build a convention centre, the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) authorities have denied the allegations and termed it baseless.
“It is a deal cleared by the Kerala High Court and Central Vigilance Commission,” CPT chairman Paul Antony told reporters here on Tuesday.
He claimed that the allotment of land on lease for 30 years was transparent. The Major Port Trusts Act, 1963, lists ‘hotels’ in Section 35(2)b as one of the services to be provided on its lands,” he said.
“The land was handed over through global tender. We received only one tender which was submitted by M A Yusuf Ali.”
He had offered `6.74 crore per hectare which was higher than the upset value fixed for the plot on the basis of the upfront premium calculated in accordance with the Land Policy Guidelines of `5.48 crores per hectare. The Board of Trustees, including the Labour Trustees, approved the proposal unanimously in its meeting held on September 6, 2010,” the chairman said.
“Before the allotment of land, the CPT had secured approval of the Ministry of Shipping for commercial use of certain properties which could not be used for shipping purposes. The Ministry had also permitted lease of these lands for 30 years with an option for renewal after 30 years at the then prevailing rates,” Paul Antony said.
He said that land was allotted to Lulu Group for setting up a hotel, resort, shopping complex and allied facilities. “As per the lease agreement, the land cannot be used for constructing residential apartments as reported by the media,” he said.
However, when pointed out that Lulu Group had earned clearance to construct 572 serviced apartments on the disputed land, the chairman said the port management did not receive any application seeking permission for the same. “As an extension of hotel, the company can construct serviced apartments with CPT approval,” he said.