Sources said that there are also plans to develop two other colonies on the thermal plant land. (File photo)
The Punjab Cabinet Saturday gave a go-ahead to the redistribution of 253 acres of land of Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant in Bathinda to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann
“Now, a piece of 10 acres will be used for battery energy storage system (BES) installation (after transfer to PSPCL), 10 acres for a new bus stand shall be retained by the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) and be given to the Transport Department, which will transfer the cost of land to the authority at price fixed by Deputy Commissioner, Bathinda. Another 20 acres shall be retained by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for residential and commercial purposes,” Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said.
The Cabinet has given the green signal for the redistribution despite protests by engineers of power utility against transfer of thermal plant land.
The Cabinet also cleared amendments to the Punjab Abadi Deh (Record of Rights) Act, 2021, to reduce the time limit for filing objections and appeals under the ‘Mera Ghar Mere Naam’ scheme.
As per an official statement, the Cabinet gave consent to amend Section 11 of the Punjab Abadi Deh (Record of Rights) Act, 2021, to replace the specific time periods with “within time notified by the government,” in order to reduce the period for filing objections and their disposal from the existing 90 and 60 days, respectively, to 30 days each. Similarly, it was decided to amend Section 12(4) of the Act, to reduce the period for disposal of appeals from 60 days to 30 days. This step will further speed up the process of resolving objections and appeals, benefiting the public significantly.
In another decision, the Cabinet approved an amendment to the Industrial and Business Development Policy (IBDP) 2022, which replaces the requirement to provide a bank guarantee (BG) for availing fiscal incentives.
The decision follows numerous representations from industry associations highlighting that the existing bank guarantee requirements were blocking substantial amounts of working capital. This liquidity crunch was identified as a major hurdle, limiting the funds available for industrial expansion, research and development, and job creation. The amendment will be applicable from the effective date of the policy, which is October 17, 2022.
The cabinet also gave its concurrence to amend Rule 3 and 16 (1) of the Punjab Management and Transfer of Municipal Properties Rules, 2021, for the modification of the payment schedule for high-value properties, defined herein as “Chunk Sites,” to be sold or transferred by the Municipalities and urban local bodies.
Now, urban land chunks valued at over Rs 20 crore will be considered chunk sites. Previously, only large land parcels fell under this category, even though smaller plots in cities could also be valued at over Rs 20 crore. The government has taken this step to allow for the collection of payments in instalments from buyers of such land parcels falling under municipal areas. This provision already exists in the Urban Development Department, but it has now been extended to municipal corporations and other local bodies. For this, the Cabinet approved amendments to Rules 3 and 16(1) of the Punjab Management and Transfer of Municipal Properties Rules, 2021. The Finance Minister said that this will increase investment, encourage competitive bidding, and attract significant investment in urban development.