'PSU land needs to be optimally used'

Considering the scarcity of land for development projects in Kerala, there should be optimal use of the land being held by the public sector companies, experts said.

Inaugurating the second edition of Infracon-2010, a national-level conference on infrastructure being organized by the Confederation of Indian Industries and the Credai, Sanjeev Kaushik, secretary (ports), said that the need of the hour was the creation of a land bank in the state.

With population in urban areas in Kerala increasing, housing and infrastructure projects are taking a hit due to scarcity of land. An inventory of land being held by public sector behemoths would show that they have thousands of acres of land not being optimally utilised, he said. 

While the land acquisition for the Vizhinjam project gathered momentum, it had faced several 'hurdles' to reach this stage, he said. There was an uproar when several years ago the land acquisition for the project was first mooted. About 120 acres of land has been acquired for the project. 

A Special Economic Zone or industrial zone in the area has also been mooted. On the coastal highway project which will run through the state, he said it would support the transport system and also was important from defence angle especially after the Mumbai attack.

The cost is estimated to be Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) for the project. The availability of land parallel to the highway is not possible, he said.

The Vizhinam project will have a draft of 18 to 22 metres and would not require dredging. "We need to leverage on this. It is next to shipping line but is mired in controversy", he added. 

There is also need to look into coastal shipping. There are 17 major and minor ports in the state, a huge inland canal system through which hazardous material also could be moved.

P Ganesh, chairman, CII Kerala, said the conference was trying to present a road map for urban infrastrucutre in Kerala.