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Ramblings of a citizen and experiences of an entreuprener

This is about my way of life. It has two parts, one is related to the world around me and the other part is my experiences as an entrepreneur. Check out our website www.shaktiindia.com

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Biz@Blaise: Land A Scare Resource



Recently a government official mentioned that a search was on for 450 odd acres of land for the proposed NIT. This requirement was getting to be very difficult to meet because the conditions were stringent, even the area earlier ear marked for the proposed sports city was not good enough.

The question is, who decides how much land is required for a particular project and do these people factor in the area that they are looking at. The fact that IIT Mumbai has 1000 acres or that BITS Goa is built on something similar forms the basis of such indents for land? Is availability not a factor, can Goa and and other State we looked at in the same way?

The land given to IIT in the early 60's was in an area in Mumbai where at that time no one would have believed was habitable. If you pass by IIT Mumbai, you will see low rise housing occupying what is now prime property. Surely if IIT Mumbai was being set up today, it would have been done with a much smaller piece of land but with the same standard of excellence. Infact across the road from IIT, Hirandani's have built tall buildings housing many more people in less land compared to the IIT. BITS Goa, developed the new campus keeping in mind the fact that the land had been left vacant for so long it was a sitting target for acquisition. Magarpatta township in Pune, is an example of win win acquisition, it is teeming with housing, schools and offices, it occupies 450 acres.

So if we need to set up an institute of excellence, will 50 acres or even less not be sufficient. The max no of students would be 5000 at the peak, assuming a teacher student ratio of 1:20, another 1000, another 1000 for support, giving a total of 7000 people housed in 50 acres. The numbers are on the higher side but even then it allows sufficient space. Some top institutes around the world will boast of being built on a much smaller footprint. So those planning the NIT should factor in Goa's paucity of land and come up with innovative designs that will require less land and still enable it to be a center par excellence. That way there will be less or no resistance from locals.

The continued acquisition of land for industry is causing angst among land owners. There is no doubt that land is required for industry. One possibility is that far sighted planners are acquiring and keeping lands for future industry. However this is not the case, the acquisition is for setting up industry today. This despite the fact that there are already acquired and allotted lands lying unused. Should utilising these vacant unused factories or buildings be a priority. The acquired land in industrial estates is allotted at concessional rates to entrepreneurs to start industry which will in turn employ people gainfully and contribute to the tax kitty which in turn will help development. Keeping them locked is not helping the objective.

Therefore the GIDC which is the nodal agency should consider ways and means to make these unit operational. One way would be to consider applying a non operational tax on all closed units so that they are forced to either restart or transfer in favour of someone who has an idea and wants the space. After all a closed unit is a white elephant, it neither contributes to the exchequer nor employs anyone. Under the watch of the previous Government, because the focus was on individual rather than the State, all industrial land was usurped by traders and utilised to store cement or steel and even tiles. Cost of land in the cities was far higher than even the unofficial price in industrial estates. In Margao for example if a sq mt was 20000/- + in the Verna Industrial Estate the unofficial price was just 4000/sqm. Cheap, if one was looking for godown space, but expensive if one was thinking of setting up a factory. The net result we have a corporate office, godowns by the dozen and even a bungalow in the industrial estate.

Maybe it is time to reconsider what we are acquiring land for, rather than say for only manufacturing we should also include services, IT/ITES financial services, where a single building will accommodate many more employees and contribute more tax revenues. This would be more efficient use of scarce goan land.

For Goa and goans, land is a scarce resource and should be treated that way. Every effort has to be made to get maximum value using minimum land. We always wish and look at Singapore as a model to be emulated. Singapore's educational institutions are now being recognised around the world and they do not have 450 acres each. The industrial activity in Singapore is something to be talked about and it coexists happily with the services industry. It is time our political setup began to think more in terms of Goa and not “self or party” Its time people start asking how development can be achieved using limited resources efficiently. If this happens, Goa will be a better land.



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