After the attempt to appoint a consultant to auction the SEZ land failed, the Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) has proposed to auction 5 lakh sqm of land on its own.
With the corporation having to pay a monthly instalment of close to Rs 4 crore, it wants to auction the land as quickly as possible in order to repay the Rs 200 crore short term loan taken from the Oriental Bank of Commerce.
The GIDC took the loan in May 2019 to pay back the SEZ promoters and reacquire 38.4 lakh sqm as part of an out-of-court settlement.
“GIDC will try to auction the land by itself through the regular route. The file is with the government,” a GIDC official said.
The interest on the loan amounts to Rs 1.1 crore per month. The GIDC tried to appoint a consultancy firm to auction the land, but the contract terms kept reputed consultants away. As TOI reported in November, global consultancy firms showed interest in the property advisory contract, but stayed away because the success fee clause was unfavourable.
The GIDC also continues to encounter a delay in the selection of the mine developer cum operator (MDO) for the Dongri Tal II coal block at Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh. The Nagpur-based consultant, a’XYKno Capital Services Private Limited has yet to finalise and float the Request for Proposal (RFP).
In September 2019, the Union ministry for coal had allocated the Dongri Tal II coal block to GIDC and had sought Rs 196 crore as a performance guarantee. Since then, the state has dragged its feet in formally taking over the coal block for exploration and utilisation.
Meanwhile, the GIDC will start issuing construction and occupancy licences online as part of a slew of reforms undertaken to improve the ease of doing business.
