BHUBANESWAR : As part of its renewed industrial thrust under the Utkarsh Odisha initiative, the state government is gearing up to create a robust land bank to facilitate the smooth grounding of projects worth over Rs 5 lakh crore over the next five years.
The Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) has been directed to adopt a mission-mode approach for land acquisition across key districts for attracting large-scale projects and sustaining industrial momentum.
So far, IDCO has identified new parcels of land at different strategic locations like Dhamara region in Bhadrak and Balasore district, Paradip region in Jagatsinghpur district, Bhubaneswar region in Khurda district, Kalinga Nagar region in Jajpur district and Banspal-Patna-Barbil region in Keonjhar district.
Land parcels have also been identified for steel and jetty complexes in Kendrapara, metal and downstream industries in Angul, Sambalpur and Jharsuguda, agro processing and tourism industries along with development of new industrial estate in all districts.
Collectors have been instructed to prioritise regions which have witnessed growing investors’ interest during the recent business summits. IDCO will work closely with district-level officials to identify parcels of land and ensure clear title, timely mutation, and digitisation of land records.
At a recent meeting chaired by minister for Revenue and Disaster Management Suresh Pujari, it was decided to locate suitable government land and demarcate them for future industries. The minister advised IDCO to avoid acquisition of private land which causes displacement of the inhabitants. “The land acquisition should be humane, sensitive as limited as possible and improve the socio-economic condition of the affected people,” he said.
IDCO was also directed to re-verify the terms of lease conditions for further allowing sub-leasing facilities to the land allottees. It has been tasked with developing plug-and-play infrastructure in existing and upcoming industrial parks.
Industries minister Sampad Chandra Swain said a grant of `1,000 crore has been provided for creation of the land bank. “Collectors have been directed to identify suitable government land and initiate acquisition of land with specific emphasis on non-irrigated and degraded areas. The focus will be on districts witnessing increasing investors’ interest and having little or no industries,” he said.