Modi govt orders CBI probe into undue favour to GMR in airport land deal
13 May 2015 5:55 AM IST
The Narendra Modi government has initiated an inquiry against the previous UPA government’s decision to lease out 190 acres of government land, belonging to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) at IGI Airport in the national Capital, to GMR Group at a throwaway price.
On Monday, the CBI registered a preliminary inquiry (PE 3(A)/2015-AC-III) against some unknown officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, AAI and DIAL-GMR for allegedly having committed gross misconduct in leasing out 190 acres to M/s DIAL at a nominal price against the spirit of mutual agreement.
The role of former Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel may also come under <g data-gr-id="26">scanner</g> in the case.
According to sources, the allocation of extra land at nominal rates has resulted in huge financial losses to the government exchequer. It was reasoned that 4,750 acres <g data-gr-id="31">was</g> leased out to M/s DIAL as ‘demised premises’ for the payment of Rs 150 crore as upfront fee.
Hence, in proportionate terms, Rs 150 crore/ 4,750 i.e. Rs 3.16 lakh was paid per acre, which in turn amounts to Rs 6.0 crore approximately. The aforesaid calculation was arbitrarily done and could not be construed to meet the requirement for reasons that the <g data-gr-id="38">onetime</g> upfront fee had no relation to the amount of land being leased out. The same amount was paid by JVC, in case of Delhi and Mumbai Airports even when <g data-gr-id="35">smaller</g> area was leased out in case of the latter. The token lease rent and upfront fee were only a small part of the payment made by DIAL for ‘demised premises’. The real payment was 45.99 per cent share in the annual revenue.
This component was nowhere discussed in the meeting and was not calculated in the amount to be paid by DIAL for the additional land. It was further found that as per the Operation, Management and Development Agreement, 5 per cent of the total land leased out as ‘demised premises’ was available for the creation of non-transferable or commercial assets such as hotels, restaurants and banks etc.
These assets are non-transferable as the JVC cannot automatically transfer these to the AAI at the end of the lease period. As per the 5 <g data-gr-id="100">per cent</g> formula, DIAL was allowed to utilise 231 (approx) of 4,608.9 acres - originally leased out to it as ‘demised premises’ - for commercial purposes. According to sources, till March 2012, DIAL had leased out 45 acres of land for commercial use to earn Rs 1.96 crore – the lease rent per acre/ year. It has also received a security deposit of Rs 1,471 crore.
The additional 77 hectares leased out to DIAL would allow it to use 5 <g data-gr-id="101">per cent</g> of the same for commercial purposes i.e. 9.5 acres. It was also revealed that M/s Merill Lynch, vide its report in August 2011, had estimated the cost of commercial land at Rs 100 crore per acre. Thus, DIAL was to benefit immensely from this additional lease of land at the cost of the government exchequer. It was further found that of the land released by DIAL to AAI as ‘excluded premises’, 7.66 acres was in turn leased out by the latter to the DGCA and the BCAS -- both government entities -- at an annual licence fee of Rs 2.41 crore per annum, with annual escalation after a 50 per cent discount. Thus, AAI charged the government entities many times over the amount charged by it from DIAL for the same piece of land.
Next Story
