Karnataka   

Decision to auction land at airport put on hold

Special Correspondent

Option of leasing it out being looked at: Kumaraswamy

BANGALORE: The Cabinet decision to auction 408 acres of land adjacent to the new international airport coming up at Devanahalli on the outskirts of Bangalore has been put on hold.

Addressing presspersons after a meeting attended by senior officials here on Tuesday, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said the Infrastructure Development Department and the Karnataka State Industrial and Investment Development Corporation (KSIIDC) had suggested that it would be better if the Government gave the land on lease instead of auctioning it. The Government would earn more revenue by leasing the land than auctioning it, he said.

Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) is constructing a greenfield airport at Devanahalli, and it is likely to be inaugurated on April 2, 2008.

The Finance Department was in favour of auctioning the land to mobilise resources to fund development programmes. Mr. Kumaraswamy said the Finance Department had now been directed to study the new proposal and submit a report so that the Government could take a final decision soon.

The Government had withheld the allotment of the 408 acres, which it had acquired for the airport project, to BIAL. The Cabinet recently decided to auction the land.

The Government has decided to extend the lease period of the Pandavapura Sugar Factory from seven years to 18 years. The factory has been leased to Kotari Sugars Ltd. for Rs. 126 crore. The amount for the seven-year lease was Rs. 80 crore.

The Chief Minister, who reviewed the factory’s functioning at the meeting, and said it had incurred a loss of Rs. 15 crore because of the reduction in crushing capacity from 3,500 tonnes to 1,750 tonnes. It had been decided to release Rs. 40 crore to the factory to upgrade technology and increase capacity. The Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore, had been asked to submit a report in a week on the factory’s condition, he said.

Mr. Kumaraswamy said 18 acres of land belonging to the Bannerghatta National Park would be acquired for the peripheral ring road. The alignment of the road was changed in order to prevent the demolition of nearly 500 houses located at Kottigere, he said.

Public Works Minister H.D. Revanna, Transport Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy, Pandavapura MLA C.S. Puttaraju and Bangalore Development Authority officials attended the meeting.

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