Cabinet nod for acquisition of land for IIT-Goa campus

PANAJI: The state cabinet has given its approval for acquisition of land admeasuring 4,04,775 square metres identified in the village of Cotarli in Sanguem taluka and Nagvem in Quepem taluka for setting up of the permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Goa with an estimated cost of Rs 41 crore.

The state government has identified land admeasuring 13,10,202 square metres in Cotarli in Sanguem in survey numbers 21/1 to 21/7, 25/1, 25/2 and 17/1 and in Nagvem in Quepem in survey numbers 25/1 to 25/9 and 26/1 to 26/10 for setting up of the permanent campus of IIT-Goa.

The state cabinet approved this proposal last week by circulation for acquisition of the land. According to the cabinet note, out of the 13,10,202 square metres of the identified land, an area of 4,04,775 square metres (3,47,775 square metres belonging to private parties and 57,000 square metres belonging to communidade of Nagvem) needs to be procured for the IIT project and the balance area of 9,05,427 square metres, recorded in the name of government in survey number 21/1 in village Cotarli, can be transferred to IIT-Goa society or the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

From the identified land of 13,10,202 square metres area, the government has said that land admeasuring 4,04,775 square metres from the villages Cotarli and Nagvem is to be procured at an estimated cost of Rs 41 crore through policy on procurement of land under Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 for direct procurement of land to set up public purposes project on priority basis.

Further, it is informed that senior town planner of the town and country planning department has informed the government that the identified site is suitable for setting up of the proposed IIT-Goa project and suggested that non-confirming land use zones in the identified site need to be placed before Section 16A Committee of TCO Act for taking up this public project.

The government has also moved a proposal in this regard to the town and country planning department to covert the present zoning of the identified site, which is mostly agricultural, to the institution zone.

The Union government, in its budget 2014-15, had announced the setting up of five new IITs in the country including one in Goa. Accordingly, the state government was requested to identify suitable location for the establishment of IIT in the state.

Earlier, the state government had identified land for setting up of IIT in Loliem village of Canacona taluka. However, due to strong opposition from the locals, the government dropped the proposed site at Loliem and identified a new site in Sanguem.