Land value soars 6-fold in 3 years: Vadra makes biggest killing in Rajasthan

Investment’s made by Robert Vadra in the desert state of Rajasthan multiplied six times in three years under the Congress government run by Ashok Gehlot.

Soon after Vadra began his land buying spree, the Central government announced plans to promote solar-energy production, a land-intensive project for which Rajasthan was well-suited, turning his investments into hot property. The value of his investments rocketed when those setting up solar power projects began chasing his property due to its proximity to the grid into which the power was to be fed.

A report in the Indian Express today points out that Vadra made profits up to 600 percent within three years of investment in real estate in Rajasthan. As Firstbiz had reported earlier, Vadra in 2009-2010 through his agents and companies, bought hundreds of acres of land from small and big farmers in areas with solar power potential in Bikaner and elsewhere." For instance A plot of 30 hectares costing Rs 4.45 lakh bought two years ago now fetches nearly Rs 2 crore! In other places,Vadra was practically a monopoly seller of the land. In Kolayat, for example, Vadra called the shots. His companies own nearly 90 percent of the wasteland there. At that time, only the state government - and the central government - knew that land around power sub-stations would be valuable once they announced plans incentivise solar power generation.

The Indian Express article notes that in all, Vadra’s Sky Light Realty, Sky Light Hospitality and Blue Breeze Trading executed 58 land deeds in Bikaner’s Kolayat tehsil between 2009 and 2013.

“Vadra’s firms bought 197 hectares in 2009-10 at a price that ranged from Rs 44,000 per hectare to 1 lakh per hectare. Almost all this land was sold off in 2012 at prices ranging from Rs 2.47 lakh per hectare to Rs 7.4 lakh per hectare,” the report said.

Vadra started creating a land bank near power sub-stations from June 2009 and then eight months later, in February 2010, the Central Government announced the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (NSM) Policy under which huge subsidies were offered for setting up grid-tied solar power plants.

As Raman Kirpal had reported last year, “Vadra’s Sky Light Realty Private Ltd bought this plot in Kolayat on 31 March 2010. Just two years later, on 4 May 2012 (according to a sale deed available with Firstpost), Sky Light sold off 29.36 hectares of land in Kolayat for nearly Rs 2 crore (Rs 1,99,58,121) to French joint Venture Fonroche Saaras Energy Pvt Ltd.

The land was as barren as it was with the farmer. Vadra’s company did not add any value to it. Blue Breeze and Sky Light together sold over 55 hectares of land to Fonroche.

Likewise, Vadra’s Sky Light Realty Pvt Ltd sold 3.25 hectares to one Rishipal, resident of Haryana, for Rs 22 lakh (Rs 7 lakh a hectare) on 11 May 2012. Interestingly, Rishipal sold this land to Fonroche seven days later on 18 May 2012.”

Ironically, the Ashok Gehlot government which attracted investments in solar power and was under an obligation to acquire the land for allotment to investors, did little to acquire the land and it infact allowed private parties to buy the land. As Vadra’s companies had bought huge chunks of land, he minted in the moolah as the then state government allowed the private companies to buy land and create their own land bank. It seems the Congress government was hand-in-glove with Vadra and encouraged him to buy as much land as possible to allow him to make profits in future.

Earlier this month, reports said that Vadra has not only fast-tracked the process of winding down his businesses in both Rajasthan and Haryana but is also on a land selling spree in the two states, fearing stringent action and monitoring by the BJP government in both the states. The comptroller and auditor general has faulted Robert Vadra’s land deals in Haryana too, saying he reaped nearly Rs 44 crore in windfall gains because an indulgent Congress government allowed him to do so in breach of law, and did not insist on recovering Rs 41.51 crore of the profit he made by quickly selling the land to DLF Universal.

The Ministry of corporate affairs documents reveal that four Vadra-owned companies have shut shop and two are in the process of being closed down. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs records show that the companies were active till May this year before the Modi government came to power but none have e filed annual returns or balance sheets since inception.

According to the documents provided by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Vadra, who had launched six companies in the two states in 2012, has already closed four of them. The companies that have been shut down include Lifeline Agrotech Private Limited, Greenwave Agro Private Limited, Rightline Agriculture Private Limited and Primetime Agro Private Limited.

The remaining two companies - Future Infra Agro Private Limited and Best Seasons Agro Private Limited - are reportedly in the process of closing down.

It is alleged that the companies in which Vadra has stakes built a huge land bank of thousands of acres in Bikaner, Jodhpur and Barmer between 2009 and 2012.

BJP had made Vadra’s land deals a major campaign issue in the recently held assembly elections in the state, alleging that the Haryana government had allowed the conversion of land in question to benefit chosen developers. The BJP had promised people that the matter would be investigated minutely once the party came to power and the guilty will be punished.