Patna, Nov. 20: Land digitisation would be complete only in 2015 to help investors mark plots for setting up industries.

Senior officials of the state revenue and land reforms department said the digitalisation of land records in Bihar was an ongoing process. The officials added that work regarding the same was going on at present but would take time when it comes to completion as the department needed to do the work carefully to avoid conflicts.

“The process of total digitalisation of land records in the state is an ongoing process. We can just say the work is going on and aerial surveys regarding the same have been conducted. By 2015, land records will be in a concrete shape in Bihar,” Vyasji, the principal secretary of the revenue and land reforms department, said.

Industrialists based in the state have stated that land records in Bihar were ill maintained; the same giving rise to a lot of land-related conflicts resulting in many investors shying away. With scarcity of land a mammoth problem, the ill-maintained land records are also a hindrance.

“Creating a proper land record and updating it fully takes time. In Bihar, the land records are not maintained in a proper way nor updated properly,” another official said.

“The officers are working in the field and the district magistrates have been directed to get on with the task in addition to aerial surveys. The same will take time as things are not quite in a good shape. But the work will be completed by 2015,” he added.

Once the process is in place, one can check out any plot online. “The system is being devised under which people will be able to get full information about a plot online. This will avoid land conflicts and court cases. The project is going on and things will be given a proper shape soon,” the official said.

Businessmen said land records were the second roadblock towards industrialisation.

“There are cases where an entrepreneur hunts for a plot to set up an industry and if he/she is fortunate to get one, soon there are many claimants for the same plot who turn up and the entrepreneur gets into a problem. He then has to pay a heavy amount as compensation. With the land records not properly maintained, neither the entrepreneur nor the state government has a clear picture and most of the times, he/she backs out,” an industrialist said.

Other industrialists, too, echoed similar sentiments. “If even after getting land, an entrepreneur gets into the muddle of court cases and heavy compensations, it is a pity,” said another industrialist.