Maha mulling new rule to seize unutilised industrial plots

MUMBAI: Concerned over industrial land parcels given to industry that remain unutilised, the Maharashtra government is mulling new rules for seizure of such idle plots if production does not start within a fixed timeframe, a State Minister said.

"After allotment, some industrial plot owners sit on the land and do not start production. We plan to change the rules in Maharashtra so that at no stage does land remain unutilised," the state's Industries Minister, Rajendra Darda, told reporters here.

Under the proposed new rules, the state government intends to stipulate a deadline by which production has to start in industrial plots, failing which the land will be seized by the state.

At present, Andhra Pradesh is the only state in the country which has a law stipulating a timeframe for production to start.

The changes will ensure that plot owners do not circumvent the law. Currently, land owners simply erect a skeletal structure on the plot, which protects their land from seizure, Darda said.

"They erect some basic structure, but there is no production at the plot. This will not be allowed (once the rules are changed)," he said.

Under the old law, Maharashtra has so far made 200 seizures of industrial land parcels, Darda said.

Such unproductive use of land -- one of the most important inputs for business -- hurts the industrial growth of the state, he said.