The Gujarat Government has denied the charges levelled against it by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) about allotment of land to corporate houses in the State, causing a loss of Rs 750 crore to the state exchequer.
In its recent report for the fiscal 2012-13, tabled in the Vidhan Sabha here on Wednesday, CAG had indicted the State Government and its PSUs for providing “undue” advantage to major industrial groups, including Reliance Industries Ltd, Essar Steel and Adani Power. In the case of Ford India and Larson and Toubro, the State Government even changed rules to grant land, the report said.
On the other hand, Gujarat State Petronet Ltd (GSPL), a listed company of the GSPC Group, passed on undue benefits of Rs 52 crore to RIL, and failing to safeguard its own interests. Similarly, the report said that Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (GUVNL) failed to recover penalty of Rs 160 crore from Adani Power.
In a statement, the State Government clarified that the joint venture of corporate houses – L&T, Mitsubishi and Nuclear Power Corporation of India—was given land at Hazira for their critical steam generator and nuclear forging plant. “The allegation that 30% concession was given by the Government amounting to Rs. 128 crores, is wrong.”
It was a conscious decision taken by the State Government to provide 30% concession in the cost of the land to this prestigious engineering unit of the country serving the nuclear power sector. The Government is empowered to take a decision to encourage such innovative projects. After the plant’s commissioning, the government has earned much more than the notional loss calculated by the CAG in its report, the statement said.
It also said that the then Reliance Petroleum Ltd was given land at Rs. 420/- per sq. mtr. for the housing colony for their industrial labourers at Jamnagar.