Isaac terms Kannur land acquisition 'farsighted move', calls Sudha Pillai Committee members 'petty' and 'myopic'

After placing the Sudha Pillai Committee report in the Assembly on October 15, Chief Minister V D Satheesan pushed KIIFB's acquisition of large swathes of land in Kannur district under a cloud of suspicion. He said that nearly 5,000 acres had been identified and, till now, 1000 acres have been acquired at prices considerably higher than market prices.

The implication was that CPM leaders in Kannur or those close to them were the beneficiaries. Former finance minister T M Thomas Isaac, the man behind the restructured KIIFB, has ridiculed the charge. "Such an observation of the Sudha Pillai Committee only revealed their pettiness and lack of foresight," Isaac said. He said that such land acquisitions were nothing but smart forward planning.

The former finance minister had a counter question. "Are you trying to suggest that we should start scouting for land only after we get a clear picture of the industries that are going to invest in Kerala? How is Chief Minister V D Satheesan finding land for Samudra Mission," he said.

While piloting the Keralam Maritime Board (Amendment) Bill, 2006, in the Assembly, the CM had said that instructions were given to acquire as much land as possible along the coast.

Committee: It is important to assess the economic and industrial rationale for undertaking large-scale land acquisition in Kannur, particularly when Kochi is a rapidly growing industrial and commercial centre and Thiruvananthapuram is emerging as a major development region in the context of the Vizhinjam International Seaport.

Isaac: Is the historic under-development of north Malabar a non-issue for the Sudha Pillai Committee? These pen-pushers can never seem to comprehend the potential of a development zone in Kannur district modelled on Cochin International Airport Limited. (Isaac was hinting that Kannur International Airport - KIAL- would do to Kannur what CIAL had done to Kochi.)

Committee: The Concept note (on land acquisition in Kannur) appears to have been prepared without the comprehensive assessment required under Section 6F of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund (Amendment) 2016 Act and the 2018 Guidelines.

Isaac: One of the five industrial zones announced in the 2016-17 Budget included 1000 acres in Kannur. However, when this announcement was discussed in KIIFB, merit was found in the KINFRA concept note that spoke of an industrial surge in north Malabar if industrial parks and allied infrastructure facilities were developed around Kannur airport and Azheekkal port. That was how the proposal to acquire nearly 5000 acres in Kannur was approved.

Committee: The latest information indicates that only 12.93 and 50 acres have been allocated respectively to the Higher Education Department and Science and IT Park Project. Consequently, the interest burden continues to accumulate while the acquired land (1000 acres) remains largely underutilised. Minutes of the 33rd Board Meeting reveal that KIIFB approved the land acquisition in four stages based on a Concept note submitted by KINFRA, not on the basis of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) as required by the rule.

Isaac: It is not when investments arrive that we run around for land. We should anticipate such a possibility and acquire land in advance. If the acquisition is delayed, land costs will shoot up when basic infrastructure like roads and power lines are laid. Is land now being acquired for Mission Samudra after preparing a DPR for each parcel of land to be acquired?

Committee: The financial implications are therefore significant. KIIFB has incurred substantial borrowing costs for acquiring land that, to date, has generated limited tangible economic activity or financial returns.

Isaac: The interest liability is on the implementing agency (KINFRA) and not KIIFB. However, another factor needs to be factored in. Delay in utilisation will also push up land prices, especially if the basic infrastructure is in place.

Further, land is acquired on the basis of the land acquisition under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (LARR Act), a law passed by the UPA government. And land acquisition orders are passed under this Act not by KIIFB but by the district collector. There are clear provisions in the Act on how high the compensation can be above the fair value of land.

Why is land acquisition controversial only in Kannur and not anywhere else? A simple answer is that former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is from Kannur.