The Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) Performance Audit Report on Land Acquisition and Allotment of Properties in Noida in Uttar Pradesh, 2021, which was tabled by parliamentary affairs minister Suresh Khanna in the UP assembly on Friday, said there was a loss of ₹55,000 crore to the state exchequer during the allotment of plots for residential, commercial and industrial purposes in Noida between 2005 and 2014.
The CAG report said there were losses to the tune of ₹2,800 crore in one scheme alone, which dealt with allotment of plots for farmhouses.
However, a 2013 report of the UP Lokayukta– an independent government body probing corruption cases in the state, said there was ‘zero scam’ in the allotment process. These two crucial reports with differing conclusions have become a subject of debate. The losses incurred in allotment of plots for farmhouses also differ in two smaller probes, which were undertaken in 2013 to determine if there was a scam or not.
The scam pertains to the allotment of about 150 plots measuring 1, 000 square metres in 12 villages to companies and individuals allegedly at throwaway prices and by flouting norms. The fertile farmland was acquired for industrial development and later allotted for the construction of farmhouses in 2008-10.
“The farmhouse plot allotment was a scam because the purpose of land acquisition was for industrial use… later the industrial land was allotted to private companies and developers to build…
