Farmers with no CLU selling out to SEZ at half the price

MAYUR SHEKHAR JHA & RAJAT GUHA

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2007 02:38:05 AM]

JHAJJAR/ NOIDA: Complexities involved in getting a land use change
approved by the state government is forcing farmers to sell land for
industrialisation projects at significantly lower prices.

In some cases, farmers are selling land at half the estimated market
price. For instance, Reliance Industries is buying land at a rate of
about Rs 20 lakh per acre for its Haryana SEZ project which, sources
say, has a open market price of about Rs 28-30 lakh. The gap is more
significant in the case of SEZs being developed by various corporates in
Dadri and Greater Noida areas of UP, where farmers are selling land at
about Rs 10-12 lakh per acre against an average market price of an
estimated Rs 25 lakh.

Approving a change in land use (CLU) is a prerogative of the local
district administration, and in the past, many cases of undue
favouritism have come to light, sources said. Moreover, certain
documents that a landlord needs to furnish while applying for a CLU have
become obsolete. “

One of the mandatory documents that a farmer needs to submit is a
khata-khautoni, which is an old revenue record. There are at least 12
such documents that need to be furnished. Even after that, there is no
guarantee that a CLU will be allowed,” an official in Noida’s land
records department said.

On the other hand, in case of companies developing SEZs in a tie-up with
states, the requisite land use comes as a part of the deal. “Not many
documents need to be furnished while selling land to a SEZ that has tied
up with a state government. In case of ancestral land, transactions have
taken place even if the owner has furnished a mere affidavit,” the
official said.

Even in such cases, the developers do not have to cough up an amount
equal to the actual market price as the circle rates at which the
transactions take place are fixed by state governments.

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