Change of Land Use permission granted to Adani raises eyebrows

Image Courtesy:kractivist.org

On May 7, 2020, even as the rest of the country was reeling under the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent nationwide lockdown, the Directorate of Town and Country Planning, Haryana granted permission to Adani Agri Logistics (Panipat) Ltd. to change land use for setting up a warehouse for agricultural produce.

The permission is granted an area measuring 90015.623 Sqm in the revenue estate of village Naultha & Jondhan Kalan, Tehsil Israna, District Panipat for an amount of Rs. 27,00,469/- on account of conversion charges.

One of the conditions for granting permission is that Adani will “give at least 75% employment to the domiciles of Haryana where the posts are not of technical nature and a quarterly statement indicating the category wise total employment and of those who belongs to Haryana shall be furnished to the G.M.D.I.C. Panipat.”

The permission is valid for a period of two years. The permission memo may be viewed here: 

The timing of the CLU grant is curious given how the three agricultural bills were passed in September 2020. This has led many to believe that Adani was aware of the move and preparing for it.

The Communist Party of India Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML) shared a copy of the permission memo on Facebook stating, “Nearly a month before the agri ordinances were approved by the cabinet, Haryana govt permitted the setting up of a warehouse by the #Adani group on more than 22 acres of land with a conversion fee of only 27 lakh rupees. The bills just followed.”

Adani has already started construction of silos for storage of foodgrains procured by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) on the land. SabrangIndia had reported earlier on how it was in June 2016, that Adani Agri Logistics Ltd (AALL) a part of Adani Ports and Logistics first entered into an agreement with the FCI to build two silos to store wheat. These were to be constructed in Kotkapura in Punjab and Katihar in Bihar. The two silos were to have a joint capacity of 75,000 tonnes and the project was estimated to cost Rs 80 crores. But as the project grew many new silos were constructed.

As per AALL’s website, “Adani Agri Logistics Limited (AALL) has signed an exclusive service agreement with the Food Corporation of India. The project has been implemented at a total cost of nearly Rs. 700 crores.” AALL explains further, “The key feature of the project is that the entire handling of the food grains, right from receiving at Base Depots, cleaning and drying as well as storage and transportation to field depots is carried out in bulk form, thus minimizing the losses. These units are notified procurement centers of FCI, where farmers deliver their produce directly in bulk form.”

Balraj Singh, sarpanch of Naultha told The Tribune that the Adani group had started purchasing land in the region three years ago and construction began a few months ago. “The group started purchasing land nearly three years back and paid Rs 30 lakh per acre to farmers to begin with. Gradually, it kept revising the rates and the price went up to Rs 2 crore per acre, leaving landowners who sold their land initially a little sore,” said Singh. He also said, “The land purchased by the group was not cultivable. It does not have any supply for irrigation and the water in the area is brackish, making it unsuitable for cultivation.”

The land purchased by the group in Naultha is close to the highway and next to a railway track. Construction also began in Jondhan Kalan about a month ago.

However, Adani group has clarified in a statement posted on Twitter that it neither buys foodgrains from farmers, nor does it have a role in deciding prices of foodgrains, in wake of allegations of hoarding and appropriation of railway lines by a Youtube channel:

https://twitter.com/AdaniOnline/status/1336333077757345801

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Did FCI really need Adani?