State govt transfers 34 hectares of land for IT park in Kolhapur

Kolhapur: In a major boost to the local technology sector, the state revenue department issued a govt resolution (GR) on Friday officially transferring 34.36 hectares of land in Shenda Park to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) for development of an IT Park.The land, previously under the control of the agriculture department, will be acquired by MIDC at prevailing agricultural rates. Once the payment to the revenue department is complete, MIDC will take possession to begin planning and infrastructure development for the proposed tech hub.As a condition of the transfer, the state has mandated that the agriculture department be provided with alternative land. A previous proposal to provide forest department land in Sangrul was rejected by the agriculture department; consequently, the district collector has been directed to identify a new, suitable location.The order also stipulates that MIDC must reimburse the forest department Rs93,34,770 for plantation work carried out on the site under the social forestry programme. Furthermore, as the land falls within the limits of the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC), MIDC must obtain all necessary construction and planning permissions from the KMC before development begins.The news has been met with enthusiasm from the local business community. Pratap Patil, president, IT Association of Kolhapur, hailed the move as a historic achievement."The official release of the GR for Kolhapur's IT Park is a moment of great pride for all of us. On behalf of the IT sector, I sincerely thank Rajesh Kshirsagar (executive chairman of the State Planning Commission), MLA Amal Mahadik, and district collector Amol Yedge for their persistent support," Patil said.However, Patil also raised a key demand for the upcoming project: "We request the govt to ensure ‘preference and reservation for local IT' during the allotment of plots to ensure that homegrown companies can benefit from this new infrastructure."