MUMBAI, SEPT 28: The state government today appointed a high-level committee to scrutinise the proposals received by the Shivshahi Punarvasan Prakalp Limited (SPPL) to purchase vacant private plots in Mumbai for development. The committee will submit its report in three months on whether it is viable for SPPL, the private company set up by the state government to implement the SRD scheme, to buy the plots.Chief Minister Narayan Rane had hurriedly convened a meeting of SPPL and government officials today at the Mantralaya, though Housing Minister Sureshdada Jain is on a tour of the United Kingdom. The meeting had become controversial even before it took place, since Jain had had a tiff with Rane over permission to the Jalgaon Municipal Council to float bonds in the market to raise money for development work. The meeting was also crucial as it was being said that Rane wanted to finalise the deal to purchase private plots for SPPL.Surprisingly, Rane did not attend the meeting. Minister of State for Housing, Raj Purohit, presided over it.The committee will comprise principal secretary of the finance department, Ravi Buddhiraja, housing secretary Govind Swarup, a representative of the Housing Development Finance Corporation and a senior architect. It will recommend to the SPPL board of directors the plots to be bought. However, the final decision to buy these plots and later develop the same will be taken by the SPPL board in consultation with the state government.When contacted, Swarup told Express Newsline there was nothing controversial about the meeting and the government was transparent in all its decisions on SPPL. ``It was a regular meeting of the SPPL board of directors, which has to take place every three months. Though the Housing Minister is on tour, the board can meet and discuss the routine agenda. There were 25 issues on the list but we primarily discussed the plots. We have appointed the committee to ensure the government is not at a loss and that the SPPL makes profits while providing housing to slumdwellers,'' said Swarup.He said government land in Mumbai was disappearing at a fast rate as it was being encroached upon. ``Small plots of 100-200 sq metres here and there in the city would not help for SRD. The projects undertaken so far are at distant places like Trombay and would not fetch profits for the SPPL and the government. So the government was seriously considering proposals to buy private land, we thought we should buy about 30 acres of land to fulfil the need for SRD. The proposed plots are at Kurla, Powai, Chembur, Dharavi, Kandivli, etc. The committee will ensure the government is not at a loss,'' he said.
