Hyderabad: Creating a land bank of over 10 lakh acres is easier said than done. This was more or less the hint given by the collectors of AP’s 13 districts, when they informed the government of lack of available land.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had set a target of creating a land bank of at least 10 lakh acres, or around 1 lakh acre in each of the 13 districts.
Tasked with collecting land for this land bank, the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation is not even close to reaching 25 per cent of the target.
This has resulted in the government focusing on taking back the lands allotted during the previous Congress regime to various companies that are lying unused.
“The previous government had indiscriminately allotted over 2 lakh acres to various companies between 2004 and 2014. Most of the companies have violated norms and have not set up industries on the lands nor provided employment. The government now wants to take these lands back,” said a senior official.
An audit of the land allotments at the district level revealed that at least one lakh acres of land can be taken back for violation of stipulated conditions.
