Was there a lack of transparency in the Maharashtra government’s decision to award land for a food-park to Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali, who got 230 acres at a 75 percent discount in Nagpur?

A report in The Times Of India says that the award of the land to Patanjali was contested by Bijay Kumar, the principal secretary for financial reforms, who was transferred close to three weeks after he questioned the method of the land allotment. His transfer happened over a year into his tenure which is generally three years.

Ramadev set up PatanJali business in 2006, primarily as a seller of ayurveda products. The company today has a vast array of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) on its portfolio and they plan to double its revenue to ₹10,000 crore for the year ending March 31.

State CM Devendra Fadnavis is the head of the Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation (MADC), the board that cleared the allotment. He told the newspaper that the process was transparent and done after entertaining open bids, mentioning that Kumar’s transfer was routine.

The TOI says that a four-member sub-committee cleared the project, of which Kumar was a part. The land in question is for a food park in Mihan (Multi-Modal International Hub Airport) area of Nagpur. Although the MADC had a going rate of Rs 1 crore per acre, 230 acres were given to Patanjali for Rs 58.63 crore for 66 years.

The report says that an RTI revealed the minutes of the meeting of the sub-committee and how the price of the land was reduced. The board members first suggested a 40 percent decrease in the price citing lack of infrastructure in the area. From that, they suggested a cut of about 58 percent “considering the rates of adjoining states and viability of such projects”.

The report also mentions that the price of the rest of the unused land, about 1030 acres, was hiked by 15 percent to compensate for the discount given to Patanjali. Three members of the sub-committee agreed while Kumar is reported to have voiced his concern over the way the discounts and the cross-subsidy was calculated.

“These have been taken as proposals of the MD of MADC without detailed back-up calculations. These detailed calculations have been asked for. The board may get the same vetted before having to decide the merits of these proposals,” he reportedly said.

The sub-committee chairman Nitin Kareer told the newspaper that more details were later provided to calculate the price. The report adds that the MADC then agreed to the sub-committee’s recommendations and Patanjali, the sole-bidder, came out with flying colours.

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