Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Uttarakhand Assembly, Yashpal Arya, has accused the state government of handing over 142 acres of prime land in Mussoorie worth “Rs 30,000 crore” to a company owned by yoga guru Ramdev’s close aide, Balkrishna, at a nominal annual rent of Rs 1 crore. He has demanded that the matter be investigated by the CBI or by a panel headed by a retired judge.
In a social media post on Friday, Arya said the land at George Everest Estate was given to Balkrishna’s company, Rajas Aerosports and Adventure Pvt Ltd, for 15 years at Rs 1 crore per year, even though the government had earlier developed the site by taking a Rs 23 crore loan from the Asian Development Bank.
“The government first spent Rs 23 crore of the ADB loan on beautifying the land worth billions, and then gave it to a private company for 15 years to earn just Rs 15 crore as rent. Only the government and the competent officers of the Uttarakhand tourism department can tell what kind of development model this is,” Arya asked.
According to him, the Uttarakhand Tourism Board had floated a tender in 2022-23 for adventure tourism at the estate, which included managing a museum, observatory, cafeteria, sports area, parking, and other facilities on the 142-acre site. Rajas Aerosports won the bid for Rs 1 crore annual rent, but Arya alleged that the second and third bidders were also companies owned by Balkrishna.
He further claimed that all three companies had the same address and that only Rajas Aerosports met the tender conditions.
“The other two companies that submitted the tender did not fulfil any of the conditions, but on the day of the tender, the conditions were changed and two ineligible companies were allowed to participate in the bidding process, which was a violation of the Uttarakhand Procurement Rules, as established by the State Finance (Expenditure) Section-7 through an order dated July 2017,” he added.
The Congress leader estimated that the circle rate of the land is Rs 2,757 crore, while the actual commercial market value at a tourist spot like Mussoorie could be four to ten times higher, making the land worth as much as Rs 30,000 crore.
He also alleged that the company had taken possession of about 1,000 bighas of land, shut down a 200-year-old road leading to homes in the area, and started charging Rs 400 for three hours of parking and Rs 200 per person for simply walking on the road.
“This is betrayal of the people and the biggest scam in the history of Uttarakhand. While youth in the state are jobless, the government is handing over land worth billions for peanuts,” Arya said.
Responding to the allegations, the ruling BJP defended the allotment. State BJP media in-charge Manveer Singh Chauhan said the land was allotted for tourism activities at George Everest Estate through a due process, and that the movement of local people around the area had not been stopped.
Calling Arya’s charges “a bundle of lies,” Chauhan said the government’s process was completely legal.
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