Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 27 (PTI) Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday thanked Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty in the Assembly for his positive remarks on land acquisition near Kannur International Airport, saying they were a reply to those raising allegations over the issue.
The remarks came amid a row over the findings of an expert panel appointed by the UDF government to review the functioning of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).
The committee flagged alleged financial irregularities and procedural lapses in land acquisition for industrial infrastructure projects. It questioned the approval of a proposal to acquire 5,366 acres in Kannur and Palakkad at an estimated cost of Rs 12,727 crore, citing, among other things, the absence of a detailed project report when the KIIFB board approved it in October 2018.
Kunhalikutty was replying to questions in the Assembly on the development of industrial clusters and parks near ports and airports in the state.
He said that, considering the importance of Vizhinjam International Port, the state-run KINFRA had initiated steps for land acquisition in the Kattakkada and Neyyattinkara areas of Thiruvananthapuram district.
He also said a proposal had been submitted to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade to include 475 acres acquired by KINFRA near Kannur airport under the union government’s Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojana (BHAVYA).
In addition, steps were being taken to establish an industrial park on 447 acres acquired in Kannur district, the minister said.
After the reply, Vijayan stood up and thanked Kunhalikutty without directly referring to the controversy surrounding the expert panel’s findings.
“It is a good thing that the industries minister has said that the land acquisition in Kannur was carried out with the right intentions. This comes as a reply to many things. I stood up to thank him for that,” Vijayan said in a lighter vein.
Responding to him, Kunhalikutty said that once land was acquired, it became government property and it was the government’s duty to take the project forward.
“That is what I was saying,” he added. PTI LGK KH
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