The Odisha government, led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, has fast-tracked the land acquisition process for major industrial and infrastructure projects. In the past one month, the government has tried to acquire land for two upcoming mega projects.
While the government has assigned the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) to acquire 3,320 acres of land for a petrochemicals complex to be set up by Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd in Balasore, it has also given a go-ahead to the Bhadrak district administration to acquire 274 acres for a commercial airport by Dhamra Port Company Limited in Dhamra. It would be the first airstrip in northern Odisha.
Land acquisition was one of the major problems behind the delay in the implementation of the 25-year-old Khurda Road-Balangir railway line. But now this has also been expedited due to continuous follow up by authorities from the state as well as the Centre. Also, land acquisition for a heritage corridor project around the Jagannath temple in Puri was completed in a record four months.
“Some of the recent policy decisions like land bank scheme and pro-activeness at the top of the administration are some of the reasons as to why the land acquisition is on fast-track. Besides expediting the acquisition process, the state government should also expeditious registration of land in favour of the industrial house. The registration process is quite slow in Odisha”, said Ramesh Mohapatra, chairman of the Utkal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.