Jharkhand against transfer of Bokaro plant surplus land

The Jharkhand government has ruled out the transfer of any portion of surplus land from Bokaro Steel Plant of state-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL) to private investors to set up industries.

In the wake of talks by the Union steel ministry with Posco and other steel companies to form a joint venture with Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) to expand its capacity, state revenue and land reform minister Mathura Prasad Mahto recently held a meeting with senior officials of his department and directed not to transfer any portion of the vacant land held by BSL.

BSL holds 33,427 acres of land since 1960s and of this, over 7,000 acres are surplus. The deed of conveyance, considered a legal document on official transfer of land, is yet to be signed between BSL and the state government.

The issue is subjudice as the state government has filed a special leave petition before the apex court, challenging an order of the Jharkhand High Court that it alleged to be contradictory to the clauses of the Land Acquisition Act. The high court had given its verdict in favour of BSL as far as control or ownership over the land was concerned.

The state has signed 71 memoranda of understanding, worth Rs 295,858 crore (Rs 2958.58 billions), with private players during the last 10 years. But the state government recently asked them to purchase land for their projects on their own.

As a result, only 12-odd small projects have taken off and the rest could not even start ground work for want of land.