Godrej & Boyce creating unnecessary hurdles in land acquisition for railway projects: Maha govt and HC| Roadsleeper.com

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday told the Bombay High Court that Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd had not left any unreasonable hurdles to acquire land, owned by the company, for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai railway project.

A bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sharmila Deshmukh was hearing a petition filed by Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd challenging the order dated September 15, 2022 passed by the state government awarding it compensation for land acquisition for the project .

The company, in their petition, requested the high court to order the state government not to initiate the process of payment of debt and initiation of licences.

The state government, in its affidavit filed by Deputy Collector (Land Acquisition) Jagatsing Girase, termed the company’s allegations as baseless, baseless, baseless and baseless.

He also told the court that the state government revenue agency had already deposited 264,000 for payment on the 17th of October.

Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, appearing for the state government, told the bench that till date no notice has been given for the acquisition of the land.

The court posted the matter for another hearing on November 10 and said that if such a notice is issued, it will give the petitioner company reasonable time to approach the court.

The state government alleged that the company has left no stone unturned to create unnecessary hurdles and obstacles at every stage of the procurement process to ensure that the group fails.

The responsible authorities make every effort to ensure that this project does not face obstacles from the people and even depends on the wishes and desires of the requesting company. Still, the unreasonable demands of the applicants keep increasing and changing according to their capabilities and this has resulted in the cost of the project being around Rs 1,000 crore, the statement said. said.

In its statement, the state government emphasized the importance of the bullet train project and said that the Ahmedabad-Mumbai railway project is an important project for the government of India.

It will be India’s first high-speed railway that will revolutionize the country’s transportation system with modern technology for the benefit of the public, he said, adding that once operational, the train will run 17,900 messages. daily commuters.

The cost of this project is around 1 lakh crore. The project is a special project and a project of great value and needs to be completed within a specified time frame, the statement said.

The state government went on to say that there were many discussions to arrive at a good decision on land acquisition, but when these failed, the government had no choice but to proceed with the acquisition of other lands identified by the agency. and ownership.

The company and the government have been embroiled in a legal dispute since 2019 over the acquisition of company-owned land in remote Vikhroli for the bullet train project.

Of the total 508.17 km of railway between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, about 21 km are planned to be underground. One of the entry points in the underground tunnel fell on land in Vikhroli (owned by Godrej).

This will be the country’s first bullet train that will run at a maximum speed of 350 km per hour, covering the distance between the two cities in less than three hours from seven hours.

(Only the headlines and photos of this story may have been reproduced by Business Standard staff; other content is automatically sourced from syndicated lists.)