Mumbai: Even before the controversy over the waiver of stamp duty worth Rs 21 crore in a Rs 300 crore Pune land deal involving Deputy CM Ajit Pawar’s family has cooled, another case is waiting in the wings — this time for a hefty Rs 17.94 crore waiver sought by the Pune Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC).
The APMC, which has long been under the influence of Pawar through its board of directors, has sought exemption from paying stamp duty for registering the sale deed of a 99.27-acre land parcel purchased from the Yashwant Cooperative Sugar Mill near Pune. The sugar mill was declared a sick unit nearly two decades ago. What raises eyebrows is the price — the APMC purchased the land for Rs 299 crore, even though several auction attempts had failed earlier when the highest bid hovered around Rs 120 crore.
The state government, in September, cleared the sale of land by the sugar mill, but notably refrained from approving the APMC’s purchase proposal. Records show that the APMC had first sought approval for the purchase in December last year from the director of the state marketing department. The director, after forwarding the proposal to Mantralaya, was told by the government to decide as per existing policies and legal provisions. Eventually, the director gave his go-ahead, enabling the APMC to proceed with the purchase.
The APMC is expected to take a bank loan for the transaction even though it already holds deposits of Rs 135 crore. After receiving the director’s nod, the APMC made a formal representation to Deputy CM Pawar last month seeking a waiver of Rs 17.94 crore in stamp duty — a request directed to the Revenue Department headed by BJP’s Chandrashekhar Bawankule. The Free Press Journal has a copy of this representation. As per established rules, the authority to grant a stamp duty waiver lies exclusively with the state cabinet — not with any minister or bureaucrat.
Whether the Devendra Fadnavis-led government approves this waiver, especially after the earlier Mundhwa land deal worth over Rs 2,000 crore drew sharp scrutiny, will be closely watched in the coming days.
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