According to sources, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday ordered the end of an agreement to lease between a private hotel and the tourism department’s property in Goa. The property was leased out while the previous Congress government, led by CM Charanjit Singh Channi, was in office.
A private hospitality company received eight acres of property in exchange for Rs 1 lakh per month. How the government property in a popular tourist site in the nation could be leased for Rs 1 lakh sparked questions.
The company will soon receive notification from the tourist department that the lease will be terminated by the government.
A senior government official claimed that Goa had loosened the requirements for seafront resorts in the state, giving the government a chance to revoke the lease. The Punjabi government will now issue new requests for proposals for leasing the asset. According to insiders, it expects to get a sizable monthly sum from the lease for the state exchequer.
After receiving a preliminary report from an IAS officer, CM Mann directed the Vigilance Bureau to begin an investigation into the anomalies relating to the lease agreement. Senior officials even made contact with Goa administration officials to find out how much land costs and whether the government can build its own resort.
According to a functionary, the government should have no trouble terminating the lease agreement because three companies with stakes in the property owned by the tourism department—Gulmohar Resorts, Satkar Holidays, and the Punjab Tourism Development Corporation—had not provided post facto approval for the lease. The Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board, however, leased the land to the bidder after seeking private bids. “However, the lease agreement is infructuous,” said a functionary.
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