M B Patil.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: Karnataka Large and Medium Industries Minister M B Patil said on Monday that the educational trust run by AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge's son, Rahul Kharge, was allotted a Civic Amenity (CA) plot at Aerospace park at a prescribed price, in accordance with the norms.
In a statement, the minister dismissed allegations made by BJP MP Lahar Singh Siroya, and insisted that no rules were violated in the process.
In a post on ‘X’ Siroya raised the issue. He wondered, “When did the Kharge family become aerospace entrepreneurs to be eligible for KIADB land? Is this about misuse of power, nepotism, and conflict of interest?”
In reply, Patil said, "Rahul Kharge is an IIT graduate who has expressed his intention to establish a Research and Development (R&D) Centre on the allotted land. His family has a longstanding involvement in various educational activities.”
Under KIADB norms, CA plots can be used for setting up R&D centres, centres of excellence, technical institutes, skill development centres, government offices, banks, hospitals, hotels, petrol stations, canteens, and residential facilities, the minister said.
“Any interested and eligible person can apply for it and allotments will be made after recommendations from the State-level Single Window Committee," Patil explained.
He further clarified that Rahul Kharge has not been allotted an industrial plot at Aerospace Park but a CA plot for establishing an R&D centre at a prescribed price, with no discounts given.
Taking a dig at the opposition parties, he said when the BJP was in power it had allotted 116 acres of land to Chanakya University in an industrial area for a mere Rs 50 crore, resulting in a Rs 137 crore loss to the state exchequer.
The minister emphasised that since he took office, a more transparent system has been implemented, where CA plots are allotted only after state-level Single Window Committee approval.
"Additionally, for the first time, we have introduced a 24.10 per cent reservation for Scheduled Castes in the allotment of CA plots," Patil noted.