State plans to clip APIIC wings

HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh government is examining the possibility of cancelling GO 571 (that details the land allotment policy) to reduce the role of AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC).
GO 571 was issued in 2012 when Kiran Kumar Reddy was the chief minister. It gives APIIC a big say in the allotment of land for industries. As chief minister Chandrababu Naidu is planning to set up a single desk for clearance of investors' applications, the state government wants to formulate a new set of guidelines.This is also in the light of massive land scams in the creation of SEZs and industrial parks by the previous Congress regimes.
The cabinet sub-committee on land allotments headed by KE Krishnamurthy (deputy chief minister and revenue minister) and comprising Yanamala Ramakrishnudu (finance) and K Acchannaidu (labour and youth affairs), in a meeting here on Thursday, examined the relevance of GO 571 and the role of APIIC in land allotments. They felt the need to either amend the GO or cancel it wholly.
According to sources, the finance department is said to be unhappy with the performance of APIIC and strongly feels that the corporation is redundant in the era of single window or single desk clearance. GO 571 arms the APIIC with powers to prepare detailed project reports (DPRs) for the industry and based on that, the state government allots land to the corporation, which in turn allots the land to private promoters.
In the past 10 years, thousands of acres of land alienated through APIIC to various industries have got locked in disputes. "In the existing system, the state is finding itself in a legal hurdle as it is unable to take back the land even though the companies failed to ground the industries there. This has forced the government to have a relook at GO 571, which superseded all previous land allotment policies and GOs," sources said.
"Among the proposals being considered are reducing the role of APIIC and giving the land on lease instead of permanent alienation. This will enable the government to keep its ownership on the land and prevent industries from misusing it," the sources added. APIIC, the sources said, had no wherewithal to keep watch on whether the land was properly being utilized.
The sources said that the new guidelines would be finalized after a few more meetings and sent for chief minister's ratification and subsequent approval of the cabinet.