Congress Accuses Uttarakhand Govt Of Allocating Heritage Land To Baba Ramdev-Backed Company At Nominal Cost

Dehradun: Yashpal Arya, the leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly, said the state government has allotted 762 bighas of the heritage site George Everest Estate in Mussoorie to a company called Aero Sports and Adventure Private Limited, backed by yoga guru Baba Ramdev and his associate Acharya Balkrishna, for a token Rs one crore annually and demanded a CBI enquiry into the matter.

He alleged that the company has occupied about 1,000 bighas of land, the estimated value of which is about Rs 30,000 crore. "An attempt has been made to hand it over to private hands for a nominal amount, making the biggest scam of Uttarakhand so far. The lands of 'George Everest Estate', having a market value of Rs 30,000 crore, was given to a company related to Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurveda on a nominal rent of only Rs 1 crore per annum for 15 years. The 142-acre land was earlier developed by the government with a Rs 23-crore loan from the Asian Development Bank," Arya said.

Arya said the allocation exposed the scale of fraud committed in the grab of giving a contract for the tourism Department's land. "The actual market value of commercial land is generally four times its value and up to 10 times at commercial pricing. The youth of Uttarakhand are facing rising unemployment, and the government and officials are selling the land here for a pittance. This is a big fraud, which needs to be investigated by CBI or a committee headed by a retired judge," Arya added.

The Uttarakhand Tourism Board had issued a tender for adventure tourism in Mussoorie. The person who was awarded the tender also got the responsibility of managing the spot spread over 142 acres, including a museum, an observatory, a cafeteria, a sports area and a parking lot. Out of this land, 142 acres were given on rent by the deputy executive officer of Uttarakhand Tourism Development Council to 'Rajas Aero Sports and Adventure Private Limited' for only Rs 1 crore per annum. The surprising thing is that Balkrishna also owns the companies whose names came in second and third place in the tender, Arya alleged.

"The state government has given a lot to Baba Ramdev, who is a businessman today. Ramdev always praises the BJP and is working on the lines of Adani and Ambani. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is kind to him. The amount for the allocation of the property is just spent on maintenance. In the coming days, Congress is going to reveal more big cases," Uttarakhand Congress president Karan Mahara said.

Refuting Congress's allegations, tourism secretary Dhiraj Singh Garbyal said the district administration had acquired 172.91 acres of land in George Everest in 1987 to promote tourism activities. The state government is constantly upgrading this spot for tourists. The construction work of a heritage park was completed in November 2022. A museum, a laboratory and a cafeteria were constructed for Rs 23.52 crore, he added.

Garbyal said the tender process for conducting aero sports activities is completely transparent. "Three companies had bid for this. This work has been allotted for 15 years only after examining the technical and financial parameters. The land or assets have not been sold or handed over to anyone. Their ownership will remain with the tourism department," he added.

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