KOCHI: The weed-overgrown land that once housed the Travancore Rayons unit at Perumbavoor moved one step towards redemption with the state cabinet revising downwards the land value for 30-acre land to Rs 12.28 crore from Rs 64.13 crore pegged earlier. The revised land value was arrived at for the land in partial possession with Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Kinfra).
The state cabinet made the decision at its meeting held on Wednesday. A total of 68 acres of land has been lying unattended and restricted in the heart of Vallam in Perumbavoor more than two decades after Travancore Rayons shut down its operations in July 2001.
Welcoming the decision, Santhosh Koshy, managing director, Kinfra, told TNIE that the corporation will pay the requisite amount to the authority concerned and take possession of the land after the revenue department issues the government order on new land value.
He expressed confidence that the lower land value would be attractive to the investors who want to come and set up infrastructure in the property. “Higher land value was a deterrent. Since the investor would have to not only pour in money to acquire land but also cough funds to establish the infrastructure,” he added.
According to Koshy, the remaining 38 acres of land that belonged to Travancore Rayons is still tangled in legal issues and is under the jurisdiction of Kerala High Court’s liquidator. “We expect that the issues will be solved in five to six months. Once that happens, the 38 acres too would be taken over by Kinfra for the industrial park,” he added.
Earlier, Minister for Industries, Coir and Law P Rajeeve had told TNIE that a master plan for the available 30 acres of land has been made by Kinfra. “We have asked them to get started on the preparations,” the minister had said.
“The remaining 38 acres will also come under our possession. By that time, a master plan for the land will also be ready. Once everything is in place, Kinfra will start its work,” the minister had told TNIE.
It had been more than two decades since the Travancore Rayons unit at Perumbavoor downed its shutters.
The nearly 70-acre property over the years got reduced to nothing more than a collection of ruined buildings, climbing vines, and peeling paint. The sixty-eight acres - rich in forestry - remain untouched, unattended and restricted in the heart of Vallam in Perumbavoor.