"For years, a scam has been going on in connivance with some local families and some senior Kandla Port Trust and Union Shipping Ministry officials. Headlines Today has exposed the mammoth land scam in which 16,000 acres of prime land were leased out for a mere pittance and the loss to the Indian exchequer has been evaluated at a whopping Rs.200,000 crore by the port's chief vigilance officer.
The port of scam. Kandla Port was built in the 1950s to counter the loss of Karachi to Pakistan following Partition. Today, it is one of the most important ports servicing western India. The Kandla Port Trust owns 2,44,000 acres of land - the biggest tract owned by any port trust authority anywhere in the world. The port limit extends to 849 sq km. So, who was going to miss the nearly 16000 acres of land that got leased out to salt manufacturing firms?
Nearly 16000 acres of land belonging to Kandla Port Trust have been leased out to salt manufacturing firms for as low as Rs.144 per acre as rent as against the accepted norm of 6% of the market value, which runs into crores of rupees.
It would have all stayed under raps if the then KPT Chief Vigilance Officer Manoranjan Kumar had not decided to blow the whistle in 2007. Kumar prepared a detailed report on the lease of land, which he submitted to the Shipping Ministry. The report points out how this land was allotted in a "whimsical" manner by various chairpersons of KPT.
Kumar's report stated that in 1960s and 70s, 16,000 acres were leased out arbitrarily to a few parties on nominal rates, without any valuation or auction. The leases were non-renewable and for a period of 30 years. About 9,000 acres of land were transferred into the possession of a select few families.
Despite the fact that these leases were causing a huge loss to the exchequer while benefiting a few chosen families, the leases were twice renewed in 1996 and 2000 for a period of four years.
In 2004, when 37 of the total 42 leases expired, the lessees conspired with certain KPT officials and senior officials in the Union Ministry of Shipping to get the land back by paying a paltry Rs.149 per acre..." (Continue reading.)