Landing in trouble

This article appeared in the Times of India, Vizag Edition, 3 April 2016

Landing in trouble

There is a renewed purpose in the air, the Andhra Pradesh state government’s mission is clear; this is the time for double digit growth! In order to fuel the growth we need plenty of money. A capital is to be built from scratch; infrastructure is required in every segment, airports, sea ports, power plants, highways and myriad government institutions. Where do we get the money to do all this? Obviously from taxes, we must therefore entice industry and business to bring in the revenue. No wonder then that the first priority of governments is to attract private entrepreneurs, the bigger the better.  The inducements for investing in the state are typically, ease of doing business, educated workers, adequate water, guaranteed power supply, roads, rail, ports and most important of all, the magical ingredient in the business mix …LAND! Plenty of LAND!

Have land – want industry

Who owns plenty of the land? The government of course, it is their primary asset and they are willing to part with it to encourage investment.  The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation APIIC which is leading agency for development of industrial infrastructure in the State have the biggest land bank among all the states in India. Combined Andhra Pradesh had only 2.93 lakh acres of government land prior to the bifurcation. Paradoxically after bifurcation, and a drive initiated by the CM to build a land bank, the figure for present AP went up to 7.64 lakh acres as revenue officials found and repossessed government lands. Vizag district has 63,000 acres, around 8%, of such land. This is only the land bank of APIIC; we must add to this the land being acquired and alienated by other government agencies, lands still under encroachment or litigation and the diversion of forest lands for industrialization, but that is another (horror) story.

The great land give-away

As you read this, our district administration is in the process of identifying government lands and giving away thousands of acres of the land for large and small businesses such as thermal plants, ITSEZ, pharmaceutical parks, aero parks, management colleges, petroleum institutes, yoga parks, hotels and so on.  The lands are generally leased for 33 years to 99 years. In great demand are lands abutting the sea shore. Not only is this the favourite of the hospitality industry it is also in demand by industries requiring the sea water to cool off their machinery such as furnaces. Many industries desire sea front lands so that they may clandestinely discharge effluents beyond the capacity of their waste treatment plants, into the sea. If we go on like this our grandchildren will need a gate pass from a coastal industry to go to see our beach and polluted sea. The land give-away bonanza is heading into dangerous territory and several questions come up.

Why not a special agriculture zone?

If land can be found for petroleum corridors and SEZ why cannot we reserve land for large sea based food industry, farming and agricultural production? Like SEZ why not an Agricultural Processing Zone with special incentives for farmers? After all just four decades from now the most important things for life will not be that new Mercedes you have your eyes on but clean air, food and water. Agricultural growth cannot match the industrial growth at the moment but it is crucial to food security and can lift millions in rural areas out of poverty.

How much land does industry need?

Do the investors ask for just enough land to put up their factory? The fact is that land being such a scarce commodity any investor asks for much more than they actually need. Here is the formula. If an investor asks for 1,000, he means, 800, therefore he will accept 600, so he will be happy with 400 because he really needs just 200!

Is the land used for the original purpose?

It is common knowledge that several projects do not come up in time, partly because government makes it difficult for them along the way by not keeping their end of the agreement. Cash strapped promoters then divert parts of the lands to others for a completely different purpose. Take a local small example. The land acquired by APSRTC for bus services and amenities in Madalipalem in the 1970s is now the privately owned CMR Mall. All over Vizag under our noses, land acquired by government ostensibly for “public purpose” is being handed over to private enterprise.

Cheating our great grandchildren

Does the land really belong to the present government? This is a tricky question. We must remember that each one of us, who now live on this planet are all here temporarily. If we use up all the land available now; what about the citizens of the future? Are we not going to leave behind any lands for them for their livelihood? Every generation thinks that we have the right to use up all the natural resources of the world around us. We are the lords of all that we survey and we must monetize whatever we can lay our hands on. Take for example the mining industry. They dig up the land, extract the ore, kill off the nearby farm lands, pollute the water sources and after fifty years of plunder they go away leaving the land unfit for either human habitation or cultivation. In effect they rob from future generations to fatten the current generation; an idea so immoral that it staggers the mind.

Back to the future

So how can we satisfy the needs of immediate growth with the responsibility to the future? Several concepts can be explored, for example creating a Future Generation Fund. While it will require economists and bankers to work out the details, it will mean keeping aside a hefty proportion of the investment in land now, as a sovereign deposit to help disadvantaged citizens of the future. Land is scarce. There is simply not enough to go around. District officials must realize that they cannot give away all the land they now have. At best they can give away just 10% or 20% and keep the rest for future generations as untouched forests that act as carbon sinks, parks for leisure and protected water bodies. In fact some lands must be kept free and pristine for perpetuity for all future generations.

We are just custodians

Just as gold and property is passed on from generation to generation, we must also pass on the assets that we are temporarily in charge of to the future. We actually do not own the natural assets around us; we are just custodians of this bounty temporarily. Just as we are guardians of minerals, forests, seas, rivers, inland water bodies, our rich biodiversity and the world’s entire wonderful God given assets that we are lucky to use at this time. We must take not what we want but sparingly use only what we need. If we are over-generous with our lands today, it will be a crime against generations to come and their history will never forgive us.