The Jharkhand government is eager to recoveraround Rs 281 crore from Tata Steel which it says stands as arrearsagainst the steel major as unpaid revenue on account of variousleased-land related issues, cases against many of which are pending invarious courts of law.
Speaking to Fe, land & revenue special secretary A K Rastogi confirmedthat the revenue payment default by Tata Steel, as per the EastSinghbhum ADC?s report at a recent land & revenue department meetingheld in Ranchi, was to the tune of around Rs 281 crore, broken up intoaround Rs 111 crore pertaining to land under Schedule IV and Rs 170crore for vacant land under Schedule V.
?We have written to the DC (deputy commissioner, East Singhbhum);there is some dispute, there was some case, we have asked for a reportfrom the DC, we are just waiting for the report,? said A K Rastogi,special secretary, land & revenue department of the state.
Asked whether any demand notice had been served on the companyRastogi said, ?The entire demand is to be raised by the DC as he isthe person who asks the related department to issue the demand(notice)?, adding that being in the headquarters he was not awarewhether or not any demand notice had already been served on thecompany.
Rastogi said it was the deputy commissioners of the state?s 24districts who compiled the land revenue collection report and sent itannually to the land & revenue department in Ranchi, a meeting onwhich had taken place recently.
Asked whether a demand notice had been raised against the outstandingdues against the steel major, East Singhbum deputy commissionerRavindra Agarwal said, ?I?m not sure of the amount, butit is a substantial one; it is a disputed due which is there for along number of years in which there are a whole lot of litigationsinvolved; we are currently studying them; such demand (notices) havebeen raised (against the company) many times in the past too, withthis side (the government) or that side (Tata Steel) having gone tothe court?.
Tata Steel is the biggest lessee of the Jharkhand government.The steel major?s lease for Jamshedpur city involving a total ofaround 10,992 acres of land — of which around 4,932 acres fallunder Schedules I, II & III (meant for production, housing and civicamenities respectively) while another 6,060 acres fall under SchedulesIV & V (sub-leased land and vacant land respectively) had seen renewalby the Jharkhand government in July 2005, after almost 10 years sinceit had fallen due for renewal under the Bihar government.
As per the terms of the renewed lease document, the existing differentannual rents for lands under different Schedules were to be doubled (i.e as per the maximum suggested provision in the last leasedocument) for a 30-year period beginning January 1, 1996 and that there would be no ‘salami’ chargeable by the state on sub-leased land(Schedule IV) as also that the steel major would be free to bring touse the balance vacant land under its custody.
Also, penalty, as well as commercial tax, would be imposed on sub-leased Schedule IV land if there had been a deviation from theoriginal purpose for which the lease was intended, fromresidential use to commercial use.
Tata Steel had also, at the time of renewal of the lease, contributed Rs 150 crore to a development fund of the Jharkhand government towardsbuilding infrastructure for the National Games which were originallyto be held in Ranchi in 2007.The steel major had also promised the state that it would also treat’below poverty line’ (BPL) card holders at the Tata Main Hospital(TMH) here under a centre-state health insurance scheme, which it costit annually around Rs 25 crore.