Bhubaneswar, April 12: The Odisha government will formulate a policy under which land across the city will be allotted for commercial purpose through auction.

The cabinet sub-committee, headed by Odisha’s revenue minister Surjya Narayan Patro, today gave its recommendation on this line. As of now, Odisha does not have a land grant policy of its own. Therefore, the allocation is made on the basis of the Land Grant Act, a central legislation.

In many cases, vast stretch of government land allocated for commercial and residential purposes in the city are found lying unutilised.

A joint inspection of 98 sites by an audit team of the Comptroller and Auditor General and the general administration department had revealed that land was not utilised even after lapse of the stipulated time (three years) in 33 cases. In some cases, the land remained unutilised even after 10 years of allotment.

The report found that the Odisha exchequer had suffered a loss of about Rs 300 crore by allotting prime land to private companies, hotel owners, school managements and individuals at less than the benchmark value.

Patro said the cabinet sub-committee had today finalised the draft land grant policy, which would be placed before the cabinet for its approval. “Once the draft policy gets the cabinet nod, it will be implemented,” he said.

According to the sub-committee’s suggestions, the land for commercial ventures such as multiplex, cinema halls and hotels will be allotted through bidding process.

Land will be allocated for a specific purpose and it will be withdrawn if the land is not utilised for the same purpose and within a specific timeframe, said an official.

“Land will no more be provided to individuals. A patch of land will be allotted to housing co-operative societies, which will carry out the construction and distribute the houses among their members,” said Patro.

Apart from housing co-operatives, land will also be provided for infrastructural facilities and public utilities such as hospitals at subsidised rate.

The department, which owns all government land in Bhubaneswar, will notify the purpose for which land is allotted, said another official, adding that the Bhubaneswar Development Authority would implement the public utility projects.

The government will decide the subsidised land premium for a public utility project from time to time, he said.

The panel has panchayati raj minister Kalpataru Das, rural development minister Bikram Keshari Arukh, housing and urban development minister Debi Prasad Mishra and industries minister Niranjan Pujari as members.