MIDC accepted earnest money payments for allotments from investors in 2013 without clearing land acquisition hurdles in Pale village in Ambernath. Villagers say they are still land owners
Eighty small and medium industrialists have been landed a body blow by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). Nearly two years since they paid a collective earnest money of Rs 106 crore — at R4,000/sqm of land — to the MIDC to set up units in Ambernath’s Pale village, the project is yet to take off.
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Farmers of the village claim that they haven’t ceded ownership of their land
The hitch in the plan: alleged dubious claims of land ownership. The MIDC claimed to have 79.54 hectares of land in Pale at its disposal, but villagers said they haven’t ceded ownership of their plots.
Villagers have built a temple for their local deity in the hope that the MIDC would not take over their land. Pics/Sameer Markande
The ill thought-out project has begun to take a toll on some of the industrialists. They have been paying high interest rates on bank loans they had taken to acquire the plots.
Nothing to show
As per the response to an RTI query by Ashvin Thakker, director of M/s Makjoy Pharma (Pvt) Ltd, who, too, had invested in the project, the state government had in 2007 issued a land acquisition notice to Pale village. Accordingly, the MIDC sought online applications for allotment of industrial plots from December 6-9, 2013. A total of 241 online applications were received, of which 55 made the cut. The MIDC received another 251 offline applications from September 19, 2013-September 11, 2014. Of these, 25 applicants were awarded allotments.
According to Thakker, the MIDC quoted a price of R4,000/sqm and collected an earnest money of Rs 106 crore in all from the 80 applicants.
“No infrastructure has been provided to date. The MIDC is yet to take possession of the land from the villagers and have not even conducted a basic land survey to mark the plots for the industrial units,” he alleged.
As per the RTI reply, the MIDC awarded the contract for road construction and water supply to a private agency on January 1 last year. The work has to be completed by January 8, 2017. “But, the work has still not begun. Besides, on February 2, 2015, the local MIDC office wrote to the regional office in Thane, asking that boundary lines be drawn for the acquired land. The response, sent on September 16, stated that the blueprint of the plan has not yet been finalised,” said Thakker, who paid R30 lakh for 3,000 sqm of land.
Not a two-way street
As per his offer letter, dated June 6, 2014, Thakker has to develop his industrial unit within three years from the date of possession or the agreement to lease — a process that’s now been indefinitely delayed.
He said some investors have pumped as much as R20 crore into the project. The plots range from 1,000 sqm to 50,000 sqm. “We were to invest around R2,000 crore more on constructing our units and giving jobs to the locals.”
Another industrialist pointed out that as per the agreement with the MIDC, unit holders were warned that they would be charged a penalty of 18% interest, their allotments would be cancelled and their entire earnest money forfeited for defaulting on payments. But the MIDC has not been held to such rigid terms of accountability. “For two years, the MIDC has held on to our money. Our money is not entitled to any interest. On the contrary, some of us have taken bank loans and are paying interests on them without being given possession of our land,” rued the industrialist.
Bhaichand Panchal, proprietor of M/s Panchal Fabricator (Pvt) Ltd, said he had paid for around 10,000 sqm of land after taking a bank loan.
Umesh Tayade, president of Additional Ambernath Manufacturers Association, whose 10-15 members have also invested in the project, said the units have the potential to generate some 20,000 jobs. “The project should have been operational by now. The MIDC has failed to sort out crucial issues. This might send an adverse message to the business community.”
Lack of trust
Local Sena MLA Dr Balaji Kiniker said villagers are putting up a stiff opposition to the acquisition process because of feelings of ill-will. After the acquisition of land was notified, some MIDC officials struck a deal with farmers: that their children would be enrolled in Industrial Training Institutes and given jobs in the industrial units, besides the compensation. They were also promised 15% of the developed land. But after the then executive engineer of the MIDC office in Ambernath was transferred, his successor refused to make such a commitment.
Besides, Pale villagers have learnt hard lessons from the acquisition of land in the neighbouring Jamboli and Bhonavli villages to set up the additional MIDC industrial area in Ambernath. Villagers had given up their land, but did not get the promised jobs in return, said the MLA.
Villagers contest acquisition claims
Sunil Khare, a businessman and owner of 16 acres of land in Pale, said the seventh generation of his family is currently residing in the village. “The entire village is spread across around 200 acres of land. My neighbours — Prakash Sambare, Jayram and Nana Thackeray — own similar tracts of land. We never gave any document in writing or signed any paper pertaining to land acquisition, as claimed by the MIDC. If it claims that it had followed due procedures like conducting a land survey and a spot panchnama of the acquired land, and drew up agreements with farmers, then it should produce these documents.” Khare alleged that revenue officials had visited their village for eight days in 2013, at the end of which they claimed to have acquired land. “How was that possible in such a short span of time? We have challenged this claim through a writ petition in the Bombay High Court.”
Norm violated
Ashvin Thakker, director of M/s Makjoy Pharma (Pvt) Ltd
How could the MIDC accept offline applications for the proposed land allotments, and that too for almost a whole year when we were given just one year?
The other side
Attempts to contact senior MIDC officials, including Commissioner Sanjay Sethi, did not yield results. Industries Minister Subhash Desai, however, said talks with villagers are still on. “I have instructed the MIDC to complete this task at the earliest. Investors cannot wait for an indefinite period to start their units. The delay is not a good sign.” He said the state government is working on setting up land banks. “The MIDC has already acquired a few plots of land.”
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