By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
DEHRADUN, 12 Sep: Principal Secretary (Planning) R Meenakshi Sundaram on Saturday dismissed the allegations being raised by some political parties (Congress) and some sections of the media regarding the alleged sale or allotment of 7,000 bighas of government land to the UttarakhandInfrastructure Investment Development Board (UIIDB). Speaking informally to some media persons here on Satruday, Sundaram asserted that this claim is totally imaginary.
Sundaram said UIIDB has neither received 7,000 bighas of land nor is it making any effort to acquire such a huge tract. He said the board had been created to facilitate capital investment and provide land to investors through a simplified process.
He said Uttarakhand is working towards doubling its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in five years and attracting capital investment is essential for achieving the objective of making the State a developed economy. He added that the tourism has been identified as one of the key sectors requiring greater investment, while efforts are also being made to expand the presence of quality educational institutions beyond the limited geographical areas where they are currently concentrated.
Sundaram said the Optimal Land Utilisation Committee has been constituted to simplify the process of transferring land required for projects from one government department to another. He clarified that the UIIDB was not a mechanism for handing over thousands of bighas of government land to private investors. The Principal Secretary also reminded that the Infrastructure Development Board model is not unique to Uttarakhand and that similar boards had earlier been established in States such as Punjab and Gujarat to facilitate investment. Public-Private Partnership projects of various departments are also referred to the UIIDB for facilitation.
Principal Secretary Sundaram further said only three bids have so far been invited for projects under the board and none of them had been finalised. He said the allegations regarding the proposed allotment of 7,000 bighas of land therefore had no factual basis.
