While Housing Minister Prakash Mehta was roasted by the Opposition for returning a mere 18,900 sq mtr plot to a Ghatkopar-based developer, Industries Minister Subhash Desai denotified over hundreds of acres of land that benefitted several developers, including at least one from his own party.
DNA got a small peek at the beneficiaries' list and found that Desai had allotted a 30-acre plot to Sunil Sisodia, a senior Shiv Sena leader in Aurangabad.
While Sisodia admitted that his group Matoshree Audyuogik Sanstha had received communication of about 30 acres of plot at Shendre in the Aurangabad region, he said that the land was still not in his possession. "The file is stuck with the Law and Judiciary Department," he said.
Among others, 116 acres of land went to the Nahar Group (a real estate player), 74 acres to Swastik Properties, 316 acres to Ashok Industries Pvt Ltd, 32 acres to Sumukh Holdings Pvt Ltd, 8 acres to Mitesh Polypack, 4 acres each to IndoGulf Pvt Ltd and Hussain Sultan Ali, and two acres to Rahul Bhatewara.
As the notified land becomes worthless to its original owners- mostly farmers, many sell it to private builders, developers etc at throw-away prices to get whatever they may get over and above the government sanctioned rates of compensation. Once the land is denotified, however, the same plot then fetches price that is several times higher than the one at which the owner sells it.
"This has happened several times over in many districts. Several people, who were in the know of the process, bought land at throw-away prices. Now, the land has been denotified — free to use for the private development purpose. We have got the whole list of the beneficiaries. This is much bigger than Mehta's issue," said Dhananjay Munde, Leader of Opposition in the State Legislative Council.
Desai’s friends?
116 acres of land went to the Nahar Group (a real estate player) and 4 acres to Swastik Properties.
While 316 acres went to Ashok Industries Pvt Ltd, Sumukh Holdings Pvt Ltd got 32 acres in total.
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