India: Officials in Jharkhand have said that the recently announced sale of Lafarge India to Nirma will require state approval to transfer land at the Jojobera cement plant. The East Singhbhum deputy commissioner, Amit Kumar, has been asked to calculate the revenue that the government stands to gain from such land transfer and its registry, according to the Hindustan Times. Previously, the district administration served a notice to Lafarge India on 10 October 2015 when Lafarge India was in talks with Birla Corporation regarding the sale of some of the same assets.
"It's mandatory to seek state government's prior approval for third-party transfer of leased land, in this case leased to Tata Steel. The district administration had informed this to the company, requesting it to seek government's approval," said KK Sone, the state land and revenue secretary. "It has to comply with the administration's notice. Any violation would draw administrative, civil as well as criminal actions."
The Jojobera plant was built on government land leased to Tata Steel. Tata Steel then signed a business transfer agreement for its Jojobera plant with Lafarge India in March 1999.
