North East
‘3,000 Bighas Is a Peanut Considering Rs 11,000 Crore Investment’: Assam Govt Defends Cement Project Land Allotment After HC Scrutiny
Ambuja Cement factory in Darlaghat (Representative Image)
The Assam government has defended its decision to allot 3,000 bighas of land in the tribal district of Dima Hasao to J K Lakshmi Cement after the Gauhati High Court raised question over the scale of the allotment and its impact on local rights, the Indian Express reported.
During a hearing on Wednesday (3 September), Advocate General Devajit Saikia submitted a report prepared by a three-member committee that reviewed the allotment.
The panel concluded that the land size was proportionate to the needs of a greenfield cement project worth Rs 11,000 crore.
Saikia stressed that the controversy could deter major investments in Assam.
“This will have an impact on the investors. We want investors to come and invest in Assam so that these same places which were infested with extremist elements, we want to improve the economic condition… We do not want to stall economic development. Not only of the NC Hills (Dima Hasao) but for the whole of Assam,” he told the court.
However, Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi observed that the report did not address two central concerns: the rights of tribals in Umrangso, a Sixth Schedule area, and the project’s environmental impact.
Of the 3,000 bighas allotted in Assam, 1,020 are earmarked for a green belt, while other portions would host a solar plant, a township, transport facilities, and infrastructure.
Saikia defended the decision, saying, “The NC hills authority has the full authority to give the land, and 3,000 bighas is a peanut, if it is considering the investment worth 11,000 crore.”
After hearing the submissions, Justice Medhi emphasised concerns about the environmental impact, which he said the report “does not touch on”.
In response, AG Saikia argued that it is “not the domain” of the state government, and the project is at a “premature stage” for this aspect, which would be examined by the Centre at a “later stage”.
The court has allowed petitioners two weeks to respond to the state’s affidavit.
