When a steel behemoth enters the pristine rural landscape to set up its giant machines and get industry rolling, it inevitably faces opposition from the local inhabitants who suspect that their age-old agricultural practices and occupations are at risk and they could soon be strangers in their own land. In the case of Jindal South West (JSW) Steel however, the case is slightly different- the farmers who lost land, thousands of acres to the company under a lease cum sale deed executed by the state government, are not complaining but the deal is now caught in the crossfire between the Congress-JD(S) coalition government and the opposition BJP. Some leaders in the ruling coalition too are opposing the sale of land at what they feel is a throwaway price to JSW while others backing the deal contend that the generation of jobs and developmental activities will change the face of the region. Shivakumar G. Malagi explores various facets of the JSW land deal and why it has been hit by controversy after controversy.
There have been umpteen instances of those who lost land during acquisition for mega projects, hitting the streets opposing the land acquisition or demanding a higher price and as a last resort, approaching the courts. But in the case of the JSW deal, one cannot find many land losers opposing the sale of land by the state government to the country's largest steel producer in this ore rich district.
Politicians are however in no mood to let the deal go through without a fight with BJP State President B.S. Yeddyurappa urging the coalition government to revoke the cabinet's decision to sell 3,667 acres of land, currently leased to the steelmaker in the mineral-rich Sandur taluk in Ballari. Indirectly backing him is a senior leader of the ruling coalition, Gadag Congress MLA and former minister H.K. Patil who first raised objections to the execution of the absolute sale deed in favour of JSW Steel.
It all started on May 27, 2019 when the H.D. Kumaraswamy led cabinet decided to execute an absolute sale deed in favour of JSW, which operates a 12-million-tonne steel plant on the sprawling campus in Toranagallu, saying the firm had fulfilled all commitments made under the lease-cum-sale agreement.
However, Mr Patil who shot off three letters to the government within a week opposing the land grant, provided enough ammunition to the opposition BJP to target the government alleging a huge scam in the transfer of land to JSW.
Countering him was Revenue minister R.V. Deshpande who maintained that the cabinet discussed the subject threadbare and cleared the proposal in line with legal opinion. "There is no question of favouritism to anyone, there has been no breach of any condition by JSW Steel. The company has fulfilled all the conditions for executing the absolute sale deed. In fact, they have invested more than what they were supposed to," he argued.
Industry sources claim that those opposing the land deal are neither land losers nor genuine stake holders."All those who are opposing this land sale are outsiders and are ignorant of the facts", asserted an industry source.
On their part, sources in JSW describes the opposition to the cabinet decision as 'political'. "This is not the first time we are getting land from the state government. Earlier too, land given to us on lease-cum-sale basis was granted to us by executing the absolute sale deed. This time, this matter was blown out of proportion for political reasons", said an official source.
Congress MLC K.C. Kondaiah who defended the land deal openly in the face of opposition from his party colleague H.K. Patil said, "Since 1994, as a MP and earlier too, I have been witnessing the developmental activities of JSW.
Besides agriculture and horticulture, we need industries for overall development of the area. If there are any dues pending from the company, it can be recovered".
Agreeing with him is mining and steel industrialist Hothur Moha mmed Iqbal who says an industrialist takes a huge risk when starting a business, which generates employment and activates the local economy.
"It is the government's job to provide land, water and electricity. Transferring the land to JSW is as per law. I appreciate the JDS-Congress government for going ahead to transfer the land in favour of JSW and for creating a positive atmosphere for growth and industrial activity", he added. He also recalled that Yeddyurappa himself, during his tenure as CM in June 2010 had organised the Global Investors Meet (GIM) and had allotted huge tracts of land to steel mills in Ballari including global steel giant Arcellor Mittal.
"Nearly 10,000 acres of land acquired for proposed steel plants during 2010 is lying idle. We will be grateful to Yeddyurappa if he launches an agitation to vacate these non-performing steel makers and helps re-allot the same land to new investors", said Mr Hothur.
Reacting to Mr Yeddyurappa's protest against the land deal, a senior Congress leader wondered what moral right Yeddyurappa had to protest against the land sale when he had gone behind bars about a decade ago for allegedly taking donations for his family owned Prerana Trust from JSW.
Other felt that foreseeing a mid-term election to the state assembly, the BJP wants to make an issue out of nothing to project itself as a party of farmers.
Ballari politicians: A divided lot
Political leaders in this ore rich district are divided over the JSW land deal with Congress MLC KC Kondaiah, Sandur MLA and Medical Education Minister E Tukaram and JD(S) leader Hothur Mohammed Iqbal defending the government's decision and fellow Congress legislator from Hosapete Anand Singh and former Ballari Congress legislator Anil Lad opposing the decision. Interestingly, opposition BJP legislators G Somashekhar Reddy and B Sriramulu, shared the dais with JSW Steel's Managing Director Sajjan Jindal at a chamber of commerce meeting at Toranagallu last week and supported the land deal in the interests of 'employment generation.'
What has put most politicos in a dilemma is JSW Steel's claim that it has invested about Rs 62,000 crore and generated 25,000 direct jobs and about 2 lakh indirect jobs.
Industry circles are abuzz with speculation that those opposing the land deal are adopting 'pressure tactics' to get a business fortune from JSW.
Many of them who lost their mining business after the Supreme Court's intervention to stop illegal mining, are trying to hit back after their own business proposals were turned down by the company, said sources adding that the land deal has provided just the right opportunity
Also opposing the land deal are Congress MLA from Hosapete B.S. Anand Singh and former Congress legislator from Ballari Anil Lad. Mr Singh has urged Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy not to transfer the land which originally belongs to farmers and said JSW which started its operations in the district in 1995 like any other start-up, has today become an 'East India Company' for Ballari. Stating that JSW has not befitted local people in any way, he said he is ready to take out a padayatra from Sandur where the JSW plant is located, to Bengaluru opposing the land deal.
"We need to know how much employment has been generated for local youth and the measures taken by the company for the development of surrounding villages and to prevent pollution in the region", he said while alleging that JSW has taken land more than required and used this surplus land as a land bank for its real estate business. "Let the government hand over the land on lease basis, not sell it", he stressed.
Mr Lad echoed the same view and said the government should grant the land on lease-basis with a condition that the land should not be mortgaged in the bank to raise loans. According to him, the government has fixed a price of Rs 1.20 lakh to 1.50 lakh per acre of land in Sandur. "Going by this price, the government gets about Rs 43 crore, where as the actual price of this land at the present market value is Rs 3,367 crore", he claimed.
Referring to the constitution of a Cabinet sub-committee to look into the entire land deal, he said the subcommittee should also examine if the land granted earlier to the company was fully utilised for the purpose for which it was given.
JSW Chairman: Will not do anything illegal
Responding to the controversy, JSW Group chairman Sajjan Jindal said the deal was "absolutely legal".
Speaking to media representatives at Vidyanagar in Sandur, Mr Jindal expressed unhappiness over "dragging industry into politics".
"Everything is as per the legal framework... As chairman, I can say that JSW Steel will not do anything that is illegal or disadvantageous to Karnataka and its people," he said.
When asked about the questions being raised about the deal, Mr Jindal said it was "part of politics".
"It is the beauty of democracy that people can raise an issue and go against the administration. There are counter-measures and people will reply. We cannot say that everything is run by politicians. There are bureaucrats and the legal system. We cannot say that one person will decide to give or not to give. It is decided in a process," he said
FKCCI bats for land deal
Backing the land sale to JSW, Sudhakar S Shetty, president, Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), said they had conducted a joint survey with JSW Steel on June 8, 2019, and found that 12 JSW steel and ancillary units are functioning where 25,000 people are directly employed and 2 lakh indirectly employed. The survey also showed that of the total 7,742.06 acres of land, till 2003, only 4,074.75 acres had been transferred. "Now, the argument is about the 3,667.31 acres of land, which the government is yet to transfer to JSW. The government should not increase rates or impose new rules and alter the agreement clause now. Three governments have changed since 1995 and still nothing is finalised," he rued.
Shetty said that in January 2020, the government will host the Global Investors Meet, and JSW is a fine example of big investors investing in Karnataka when most other industries have shied away.
JSW: Growing in leaps and bounds
The Sajjan Jindal-controlled JSW started production with 1.5 lakh tons of steel in 1997-98 and now produces 12 million tons with a target of 18 million tons which will enable it to become the biggest steel production company in India. According to official sources, JSW had invested Rs 62,025 crores in the steel plant besides giving employment to 25,000 people and also direct/indirect employment to 2 lakh people. The amount of taxes JSW paid to the exchequer between 1997-98 and 2017-18 is reportedly about Rs 86,561 crore
What's H.K. Patil worried about
Patil in his letters to the coalition government referred to the pending litigation between JSW Steel and state-owned Mysore Minerals Ltd and claims JSW owes dues to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore including interest to the state's exchequer. The case is pending at the City Civil Court in Bengaluru where MML and JSW are fighting a legal battle over alleged breach of the MoU entered between them since 2012. The final verdict in this case is yet to be pronounced.
