Uncertainty hangs over fate of industrial areas in state

Jaipur: The referral of Rajasthan Land Revenue (Amendment and Validation) Bill to a select committee of the Rajasthan Assembly has created uncertainty for warehouses, business reorganisation plans, liability resettlements, and other necessities in industrial areas transferred to RIICO before 1979. This development has also disrupted the 2025-26 Budget announcement, which proposed regularisation of existing warehouses in both the transferred areas and RIICO's own zones.
Prior to the Supreme Court order of April 20, 2023, RIICO's laws governed the transferred industrial areas. However, the apex court ruling in the case of the state govt versus Arafat Petrochemicals stripped RIICO of those powers in 37 industrial areas.
Following the verdict, RIICO issued an office order stating, "All units are directed that henceforth no application shall be processed and no orders will be issued regarding sub-division, transfer and land use change, approval of maps or building plans, etc., in transferred industrial areas till clarification/guidelines are received from the state govt and appropriate general instructions are issued by the corporation."
The order halted the reorganisation of ownership structures triggered by changing circumstances for promoters, including instances of death or separation of a partner in partnership firms. It also created hurdles for land mortgage and the regularisation of existing warehouses.
Suresh Agarwal, president of industry body FORTI, said, "This is not a political issue as the RIICO order in April 2023 caused numerous hurdles for owners of industrial units in the transferred zones."
Agarwal said some units are in desperate situations to reorganise their businesses, but has RIICO stopped addressing the issues as a result of the apex court orders. "All were hoping that the state govt will empower RIICO to take decisions and pave the path for resolution of the issues that the industrial units were struggling to overcome," he said.
Since RIICO rules used to apply in the transferred industrial areas, those decisions now stand in violation after the SC judgement. The bill placed in the assembly by the revenue department could save RIICO from legal scrutiny. Similarly, if the bill was allowed to become legislation, RIICO could hold the legal mandate to govern the transferred areas as it does in its own zones.
The decision to not grant powers to RIICO for land use change will directly impact industrial areas in Jhotwara and Bais Godam, among 37 others in the state, which were set up before RIICO came into existence but were later transferred to the corporation by administrative orders without an operational law.