NEW DELHI : The Karnataka government said that there is no proposal to monetize 25,000 acres of land around Bengaluru.
The state government said that it is the fundamental responsibility of the Government to optimise resource mobilisation without putting undue burden on the citizens. The focus of the Government is steadfastly on ensuring equitable economic growth so that the poorer sections of the society also accrue some benefits of the rapid economic growth that the state is witnessing.
In this view, many measures are being proposed and considered. Our state has greater potential to raise additional non-tax revenues from sectors such as mining, advertisements in urban areas, naming rights, etc.
Better tax compliance is also another measure that is being explored. Some of the recommendations also include a limited extent of monetisation of non-strategic assets, but that does not have to mean disposal or outright sale of Government lands, the government said in a statement.
There are several creative and intelligent ways to raise resources without selling government land and raising taxes. For example, the value of private land can be better unlocked by taking up orderly town planning and building infrastructure like roads, civic amenities, and metro lines.
The idle land parcels of the State Government and other Govt entities, which are prone to encroachment, would be developed to generate a continuous stream of revenue to the State without selling these lands.
Instead of the outright sale of public lands, innovative value-capture financing methods would be employed to generate revenue to the State which does not involve outright sale of public assets. The various successful value capture financing methods deployed in other States and Countries would be carefully studied and the best methods would be adopted in the State, the statement read.
Further, the focus of the Global Consultant is on the rapid development of large industrial townships and urban amenities by tapping private investments.
The Finance Department is looking into all the measures and any proposal to raise resources will be in public domain once it is properly fleshed out. There is no reason for anyone to jump to hasty conclusions based on preliminary ideas that are on the table, the government said.
