Industrialists raise Goa industrial development corporation 'scam' alert

MARGAO: Industrialists are alleging that the board of the Goa industrial development corporation (GIDC) has hurriedly passed amendments to its plot allotment and sublease regulations with an eye on benefiting a few stakeholders in the liquor industry.
Raising objections to the proposed Goa IDC Transfer & Sub-lease Regulations, 2014, industrialists, speaking to Times of India on condition of anonymity, say their main effort is to prevent any speculative land transactions in industrial estates in the state.
They allege that GIDC's recent move-of approving the amendments and then forwarding the same to the government for approval — has put the onus on the state to give directions on transfer/relocation of existing liquor/tobacco industries.
There is also no explicit prohibitory clause to an amendment that provides scope for new liquor industries to be set up under sublease by existing liquor industries, they point out.
Some industrialists have inferred that putting restrictions on allotment and allowing transfers is nothing but speculative activity that allows for substantial discretions towards making money.
The GIDC Plot Allotment Regulations, 2012, prohibits allotment of land to liquor units in industrial estates.
The Goa IDC Transfer & Sub-lease Regulations, 2013, further prohibits the transfer of liquor units at industrial estates for running new liquor units and only permits the relocation of an existing unit to another industrial estate but only to the extent of the existing constructed area. It does not allow any expansion beyond the existing constructed area.
Industrialists point out that the proposed amendments have only been made after the GIDC board at its 334th meeting deferred the proposal of a liquor company that had requested a relaxation of regulations that prohibited the transfer or sublease of a liquor unit. Sources told TOI that the liquor company has a plot at an industrial estate and wants to expand its operations which is why it had moved a proposal seeking a shift to a larger plot at another industrial estate.
Industrialists allege that this proposal was deferred until suitable amendments in the transfer and sublease guidelines could be made by GIDC to facilitate the proposal. GIDC then tried to propose a new amendment, facilitating the relocation and expansion of liquor industries by just taking an undertaking from the relocating unit that it would stop manufacturing activities in its old premises, explained sources.
Industrialists vehemently opposed this move claiming that it amounted to GIDC prohibiting new liquor industries in industrial estates on the one hand and looking for a way to benefit some stakeholders on the other.
"It its worth pondering upon why GIDC is hell bent on amending the plot allotment and sublease regulations which will benefit an unscrupulous few," said a prominent industrialist.
Another industrialist added that GIDC has several pressing issues to solve rather than devote so much effort to amending regulations. Some of the urgent issues the industrialist listed include charging and collecting lease rentals, construction licences, house tax, penalties, and the undue delay in sanctioning approvals. "There seems to be a hidden agenda in GIDC's move. It reeks of a well-planned scam to benefit liquor barons, and who the beneficiaries will be should be investigated," voiced an industrialist.
GIDC chairman Ganesh Gaonkar when asked about this issue of plot allotments in industrial estates, said the process of allotting plots in various industrial estates will begin only after May 16 — the results of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. Officials of the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), when contacted, said they had given their inputs on the proposed amendments. They refused to comment further.