The Yogi Adityanath government on Tuesday approved the proposal to allow Patanjali Ayurveda Pvt Ltd to transfer its land to its subsidiary company for setting up a Rs 6,000-crore mega food park in Greater Noida along the Yamuna Expressway. The clearance will enable the Baba Ramdev-led company to meet the Centre's June 30 deadline to complete the acquisition of land, for the final approval to set up the food park. Talking to India Today TV after the cabinet meeting the minister for industrial development Satish Mahana said "the issue with Patanjali has been resolved and now Baba Ramdev is free to develop his food and herbal park in accordance with his plans." Patanjali can also lease out 20 acres of land to other companies for commercial activities.
The permission had earlier been withheld as the infrastructure and industrial development policy of 2012, under which land had been allocated to Patanjali along the Yamuna Expressway in 2016, did not allow for land to be subleased. The proposal has now been cleared by the state cabinet.
Earlier the Yogi government was hesitant to include the name of Food and Herbal Park and was not allowing Patanjali Ayurveda to lease 20 acres of land for commercial purpose. However, Baba Ramdev's pressure worked as he had threatened to pull out from UP. A day after the group had threatened to cancel the project, BJP president Amit Shah met Ramdev under the party's 'Sampark for Samarthan' campaign and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had called up Ramdev and Patanjali Group CEO Acharya Balakrishna personally to assure them of all possible co-operation.
Along with its request for transfer of land to its subsidiary company, Patanjali had also asked for a government subsidy of Rs 150 crore for setting up the food park although the subsidiary company had no land in its name. The Centre had extended the deadline for the approval of the food park project by 15 days till June 30 so that Patanjali Ayurved could get more time to meet the required eligibility criteria such as acquisition of land, for the final clearance to go ahead with the project. Patanjali plans to invest up to Rs 6,000 crore to set up a plant over 425 acres of land along the Yamuna Expressway through its subsidiary company Patanjali Food and Herbal Park.
The conditions that were to be complied with include acquisition and transfer of land in the name of Patanjali Ayurved's subsidiary. Patanjali wanted to transfer 91 acres of this land to its subsidiary, Patanjali Food and Herbal Park Noida Pvt Ltd, for setting up a mega food park.
The firm had been given the ministry's in-principle approval in January for the food park. But the company had to meet four to five conditions, including submission of land and bank loan papers. Patanjali was given also given a one-month extension till end of June by the ministry to get the requisite clearances to start the project. Patanjali had said that its mega food park would produce goods worth Rs 25,000 crore annually once it started running at full capacity. The project is expected to create 10,000 direct jobs.