New Delhi, Sep 13 (PTI) The Congress on Monday accused the government of reducing land licensing fee for public sector Container Corporation of India (CONCOR), ahead of its disinvestment, to allegedly benefit private players.

Party spokesperson Gourav Vallabh alleged that the government was seeking to reduce the land licensing fee from the existing 6 per cent to 2 to 3 per cent and increase the lease period from five years to 35 years.

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Referring to CONCOR, a railway PSU and a Navratna company, he said the Railway Board in its policy of March 19, 2020, notified a Land Licensing Fees (LLF) regime for industrial use of its land and extended the same to CONCOR, whereby the LLF being charged by the transporter now is 6 per cent of land value in the first year of license.

He said the rate will increase at 7 per cent annually to factor in inflation.

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"Now the Modi government is considering a change in the lease policy for industrial use of railway land that will bring LLF to 2 to 3 per cent from the current level of 6 per cent. This policy may extend the land lease period from 5 years to 35 years or more," he said at a press conference.

He alleged that the government is considering the proposal to lease railway land for 35 years by receiving an upfront 99 per cent of lease rentals.

The Modi government has given its nod to sell 30.8 per cent out of its 54.8 percent holding in CONCOR and management control to strategic buyers.

CONCOR has over 60 Inland Container Depots (ICDs), and 24 are situated on railway land.

"Why a Navratna company that is of strategic importance, consistently generating a profit and declaring average dividends of Rs 365 crore per year in the last four years, has been decided for disinvestment," he asked.

Once a decision was taken about its disinvestment, why was the government considering changing land licensing fees (LLF) from the existing 6 per cent to 2 to 3 per cent and lease period from 5 years to 35 years, he asked.

"Is the proposal to reduce LLF an indirect way to hand over developed government land to private parties for the long term," he questioned.

Asking how the government can hand over land, acquired by the railways from farmers at a concessional rate and in many cases donated to it free for expansion, maintenance and development of railway infrastructure in the country, "to a private party for commercial use in a backdoor arrangement".

"This valuable land belongs to the farmers of our country and if is not being used by the railways it should be returned to its original owners," he said.

Vallabh alleged that CONCOR is a zero debt company with consistent total incomes. For paying 99 per cent upfront lease, it has to raise debts of Rs 3500 crore which will directly hurt the valuation, he said.

"Is the entire transaction is planned to reduce the valuation of CONCOR," he asked.

There was no immediate comment from the government or the railways in this regard.

The Congress leader also alleged that Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) has claimed that "acquiring CONCOR will be a breeze" and "it can easily acquire strategic target CONCOR".

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)