KARACHI, March 11: Former chief minister Dr Arbab Rahim provided land to four applicants for construction of mosques and madressahs under the new land policy, the rules for which were framed by the Sindh Board of Revenue in February 2006, to offer plots to prospective industrial, commercial, educational and services sector investors at one-third of the market rate.

A scrutiny committee, headed by senior member, board of revenue, monitors utilisation of land given at discounted rates. A period of two years has been given to the committee after which there is a grace period. If land is not utilised for the purpose it is bought, the government has authority to cease land and hold back payment.

With 35 other applicants, four have been accommodated to set up mosques and religious seminaries. They are Maulana Syed Badruddin Agha who has been given four acres for construction of a mosque and madressah at Nc 303 Kharkaro.

He was issued order on Aug 28 last year and was given land at the rate of Rs500,000 per acre. He paid Rs2 million.

Ali Khan, son of Amir Bux, was given 3,087 square feet of land at village Ahmedpur for construction of Masjid Abu Bakr. He paid Rs61,740 at the rate of Rs20 per square foot. Qari Ameeruddin, administrator of Madrassa Al-Jamia Al-Madania Tajweedul Quran, has been given 26 ghuntas (one ghunta is equal to 0.03 acres) as amenity plot in S No. 690 Odherwali, Ghotki.

He paid Rs162,500 at the rate of Rs6,250 per ghunta.

Abu Qatada, Secretary Nusrat Trust, has been allotted five acres at the rate of Rs2 million per acre as amenity plot. He was issued order in November 2007. There is no mention as to how much amount he has paid.

The rules have a provision for amenity plots for places of worship, graveyards, gardens, playgrounds, libraries, reading rooms and community centres.

“But the focus is on promoting investment in the province,’’ an official of Sindh Industries Department said.

He said the ordinance to promulgate the Colonisation of Government Lands (Sindh amendment) Ordinance 2005 was done to counter the influence of the cartel of speculators who distorted the real estate market and pushed up prices of industrial and commercial land to a higher level.

An acre in SITE Manghopir and Korangi industrial estate is available for Rs60 million. An investor would need Rs3 billion only to purchase 50 acres in Korangi.

Industrial and commercial plots in other areas, like Federal B area, Nooriabad, Kotri, Hyderabad and other places, are also very expensive simply because of speculative trading after empowerment of stock exchange brokers.

Under the law, the role of Sindh Industries Department is merely cosmetic as the secretary of industries is one of the half a dozen members of scrutiny committee, headed by senior member, Board of Revenue.

There was a lot of controversy on allotment of 88 acres at Khanto on the National Highway given for a jewellery complex by a local jeweller.

The famous chowkandi tombs are said to have been sold to an investor at half a million rupees for an acre. The order was issued in June 2006 after the rules were made public.

A local politician too has been granted 5,250 square yards of land at Khanto for an industry. He has been charged price at Rs271,177 per acre and has paid Rs2.71 million.

A little farther from Khanto on the National Highway near Pipri, the ministry of textiles has acquired 300 acres at Rs2.5 million per acre for construction of a garments city. A total amount of Rs750 million has been paid.

Aga Khan University has acquired two plots — 300 acres and 200 acres — and has paid a total of Rs325 million. A well known businessman of Karachi has bought 907 acres for construction of a cement factory at Khadeji for more than Rs 567 million.

Officials say that plots have been purchased for industrial, housing projects and also for setting up educational institutions. “We rejected or returned back as many as about 70 applications,’’ a well-placed source confided who said about 65 more applications are pending with attractive investment proposals.

“But all said and one, the investment flow in Sindh depends on improvement of law and order and political stability without which all policies are meaningless,” he said.