The record
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- A CAG report tabled in the West Bengal Assembly has flagged a Rs 12.86 crore loss to the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation in its 2019 allotment of 109.12 acres to Flipkart's logistics arm Instakart Services at the Haringhata Industrial Park in Nadia district.
- The auditor says WBIDCL fixed the base price at Rs 63.49 lakh per acre without excluding 55.89 acres of unusable water bodies from the site, contrary to its own pricing policy, which would have required a rate of Rs 75.23 lakh per acre and a lease premium of Rs 82.09 crore instead of the Rs 69.23 crore collected.
- The state government had defended the pricing, saying the board and Cabinet approved it, but the CAG rejected that explanation and reiterated that water bodies cannot be allotted for industrial development.
- The report is part of the CAG's 2024 PSU audit for the period ending March 31, 2023, tabled after the previous government had not presented CAG reports for four fiscal years.
What to watch next
- Any recovery of the Rs 12.86 crore shortfall from Instakart or revision of the lease premium
- Follow-up action by the state government or Assembly on the CAG's findings
- Scrutiny of other land allotments at Haringhata Industrial Park priced on the same basis
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Named India · Trinamool Congress · West Bengal · West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Limited · Bharatiya Janata Party · Comptroller and Auditor General · Flipkart · Instakart Services
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