Govt not investor-friendly: Daya

PORVORIM, DEC 17
Former minister Dayanand Narvekar has lashed out at chairman of Info Tech Corporation of Goa Ltd (ITCG) Subhash Shirodkar for claiming that the government had never kept on hold the IT habitat project at Dona Paula.
The Aldona MLA has also accused the government of not being investor-friendly, due to which no new companies are setting up projects in the State.
“Chief Minister Digambar Kamat had made a statement to the media as well as during the assembly session that the government had kept the project on hold in view of the agitation and protests by residents of Taleigao,” Narvekar told Herald.
“If the project was not kept on hold, then why did the ITCG not complete the infrastructure, for which they had collected the amount of Rs 89.61 crore from the promoters,” asked the Aldona MLA. Narvekar stated that the ITCG had charged Rs 3,103 per sq mt as per the rated fixed by the North Goa Collector.
“I had suggested to the government then that the additional amount of Rs 1,500 per sq mt may be collected from investors to construct infrastructure such as sewage treatment plant, good roads, compound wall, underground cable for electricity and illumination of the entire campus,” said Narvekar.
“My suggestion was accepted by the government and accordingly, Rs 89.61 crore was collected from 18 companies towards infrastructure. It was, therefore, the duty of the ITCG to complete the infrastructure during the last three years if the project was not kept on hold,” he added.
Commenting on the show cause notices issued by ITCG to the promoters blaming them for not completing their work as per agreement and charging them additional interest plus penal interest on the overdue instalments, Narvekar stated this action of ITCG was not fair.
In its reply to the show cause notice, Milcon Developers had mentioned in their letter: “We consistently showed our willingness and eagerness to pay the instalments and requested you to inform us about the status quo which you maintained on the project…we requested you persistently to confirm to us ‘Current Position’.”
The letter further states: “Under the Right to Information Act by our employee’s letter dated 15-12-2008, we sought inter alia, to know the reasons for stopping the work at Rajiv Gandhi IT Habitat at Dona Paula, and you had informed us that the work had been stopped due to the agitation and protest by locals.”
Said Narvekar, “In view of this, ITCG cannot blame the promoters for not completing their projects.”
“The ITCG has a hidden agenda to terminate the lease agreements by harassing the promoters and allot plots to new companies of their choice,” alleged Narvekar.
“If the government is not interested in the IT Habitat project at Dona Paula, they should close down ITCG and refund the amount collected from the promoters towards infrastructure along with the interest accrued thereon. Moreover, what is the use of paying a huge rent of Rs 2 lakh per month for the office of ITCG in Porvorim,” asked Narvekar.
“The government is not at all investor-friendly, due to which no new companies are setting up projects in the State. Besides, during the last three years, only 1,500 people could get employment in the industrial sector. This is a sorry state of affairs, especially since the IT sector has huge employment potential.”