Govt. doles out land at will

Developers, big & small, hit land jackpot
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: Of the five investors, whom Opposition leader in the Legislative Council H K Patil on Wednesday said had been given 5,472.16 acres of land in and around Bangalore, only Mumbai-based Shapoorji Pallonji is a big name in the construction industry. Of the other three, one company was incorporated only in March, while the other is yet to commence its business operations.

Each of them has stated their background in graphic detail and activities in development of land. Yet, the High Level Committee chaired by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy cleared almost all the land they asked for on March 24.

The Gandhi City for Advanced R&D Ltd was incorporated as a company only on March 6, 2006 and the same month, it got sanction for 1,000 acres of land between Ramanagaram and Chennapatna ostensibly to develop an R&D centre.

The company, meanwhile, has stated before the government that its main objective is to purchase, acquire and lease lands and build townships, market, residential and commercial buildings etc. Interestingly, the company does not even figure on the web.

There are, however, several companies named as Sapphire that figure on the web but none of them is the same as the Sapphire Infrastructure Development Ltd, which has got 1,220 acres of land in Sarjapur.

The company that has received so much land is, in fact, yet to commence its business operations. Its proposed business? Construction, establishing corporate offices and developing of tech parks, tech centres, etc.

Adarsh Prime Projects Pvt Ltd, is a full-fledged developer engaged in property development with an annual turnover of about Rs 96 crore.

The government has granted it 1,270 acres in Bangalore Rural and Urban areas for property development and hospitality industry. By the way, it has told the government that it will invest Rs 5,867 crore on the land granted!

Shapoorji Pallonji, however, figures prominently among the leaders in construction industry. The company has expanded into a group of companies having operations in many diverse fields such as commercial and residential buildings, infrastructure projects, industrial plants, mechanical works, electrical works and property development.

The government has conceded its 1,400 acres at Devanahalli, where the international airport is coming up and another 150 acres at Srirangapatna near Mysore.