Hyderabad: Union Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju on Monday said he was expecting a survey report on encroachments done on the defence lands in eight sectors across the country by the end of March next year.
The Ministry of Defence had ordered the survey following largescale encroachments on 17.56 lakh acres of land owned by it. To its shock, the ministry had identified more than 12,000 acres of land that was encroached illegally.
"The total defence land holding in the country is 17.56 lakh acres, out of which 1.6 lakh acres is in 62 cantonments. Now, the amount of encroached land is little over 12,000 acres, which has happened historically.... They took up for survey in about eight circles. The survey report should be (out) by the end of this financial year," Raju said at a press conference. He said the ministry was taking all steps to conserve its valuable land by computerising all the land records.
Defence Minister AK Antony held two meetings in this regard and ordered a resurvey to be done for all defence lands, Raju added.
Replying to a query that if the private sector in the country is hesitant to venture into the defence sector because of staggering costs, longer project time and complex technologies, Raju replied in affirmative.
"Quality norms are stringent and volumes are low and inconsistent. Unfortunately, many of these factors are true.
To be successful, we need excellent talent pool, including engineers, good infrastructure, high quality standards and the ability to deliver goods that suit various climatic conditions and widely difficult locations," he said. The minister was chief guest in a function in which Avantel, a city-based firm, handed over 12 units of mobile satellite service (MSS)-based communication systems to Boeing.
The US aircraft maker will use these systems in its P-8i reconnaissance aircraft to be supplied to the Indian Navy.
PTI