Karnataka: 9 Plantation Companies owe Rs 1,492 cr in lease rentals to Govt, says minister Eshwar Khandre

Nine plantation companies including the Tata Coffee, owed about Rs 1,492 crore in lease rental dues and interest to the state government, Forest, Environment & Ecology minister Eshwar B Khandre informed the Legislative Council on Monday.

The nine companies have developed plantations in 5150 acres of forest area in Kodagu and Chamarajanagar districts, the minister said in response to a question from the member, MP Kushalappa.

These companies have taken large swathes of forest land on a 999-year lease from the pre-Independence era, and been growing plantation crops including coffee, tea, rubber, and pepper. The state government, however, cut the lease period from 999-year to 99-year in 2012, and issued notices to the companies to return the land on expiry of the revised lease term.


The companies have challenged the notice, and the case is coming up before the High Court for hearing on December 12, Khandre said. The government has taken legal steps to reclaim the land, he added.

He shared the names of the companies as: Mercara Rubber Co (1074 acre), Nilambur Rubber Co (713 acre), Thomson Rubber Co (625 acre), Portland Rubber Co (1289), Tata Coffee Ltd (923 acre), and Glenloren Plantation (279 acre), all in Kodagu district and Emerald Haven Estate (37 acre), Biligiriranga Estate (25 acre), and Nilagiri Plantation Ltd in Chamarajanagar district.

The administration, during the British Raj, had awarded more than 5500 acres of forest land on long-term leases to companies for rentals as low as Rs 2 and Rs 7 per acres. The government had continued some of these leases post-Independence, too, before the enactment of the Forest Conservation Act, Khandre said.

The State Government increased the lease rentals later, but the companies moved the court challenging this raise as well as the interest on dues.

One of the companies pledged the forest land in a bank and borrowed money in violation of tease terms. The government has come to know that the bank has even auctioned the said forest land after the borrower defaulted on the loan repayment, Khandre had said earlier.

The government, forest minister said, has formed a five-member task force to pursue the cases to recover the dues from the plantation companies as well as the leased land.