Adityapur industrial hub

Ranchi, Nov. 8: Chief minister Arjun Munda has ordered a major crackdown on misuse of plots in four industrial areas of the state in Ranchi, Adityapur, Bokaro and Dumka.

Besides, agreements with owners of industrial units that have been either declared sick or closed for quite some time would be cancelled after a detailed survey was conducted by the state industry department as per a directive from the chief minister.

Munda, who held a marathon review of various government departments today, directed industry department officials to launch a survey to identify plots that were being misused as residential areas in Ranchi Industrial Area, Adityapur Industrial Area, near Jamshedpur, Bokaro Industrial Area and Santhal Pargana Industrial Area in Dumka.

“We will conduct a survey and identify the industrial plots being used for residential purposes. The agreement with sick and closed units would also be cancelled and allotment would be given to new industries,” industry secretary A. P. Singh told The Telegraph.

The department, he said, had received several reports, mostly from areas managed by Ranchi Industrial Area Development Authority (RIADA), that plots given to various industrialist in the last few decades were being used for residential purposes.

“Moreover, in other industrial areas, closed and sick units still hold possession of plots provided by the government. After the survey, we would allot such plots to prospective industries,” he added.

RIADA has a controlled area of 1,524 acres spread over several districts, including Ranchi, Ramgarh, Hazaribagh, Koderma, Lohardaga, Palamau, Gumla and Gharwah. As many as 682 industrial units have been allotted land of which 540 units have been established.

AIADA, the biggest industrial area of the state, has a control area of 33,970 acres of which 2,609 acres have already been allotted to industries.

Today’s review chaired by Munda was attended by Singh and other senior government officials, including chief secretary A.K. Singh and development commissioner S.K. Choudhary.

Among the other decisions taken today were:

nIndustries in the state Jharkhand would continue to enjoy sops promised under Jharkhand Industrial Policy that was extended by a year. “The policy that was declared invalid since March 31, 2010, in anticipation of a new policy being framed by the state industry department, has been given an extension till March 2011,” state industry secretary A.P. Singh said.

nMunda advocated speedy execution of a proposed mega food park project in the Getalsud area in the outskirts of the state capital where a Mumbai-based group had been allotted land by RIADA a year and-a-half ago.

nMunda also laid stress on proposed Barhi Growth Centre project pending for decades. He issued directives to expedite development of the industrial area (RIADA) under public-private partnership (PPP) mode.