Ravi K justifies RPCs 5,000-acre land rule

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake on Friday justified the 2017 Budget move to limit acregae of Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) to 5,000 acres. 

“We want to break the current 28,000-30,000 acres help by RPCs into smaller units. You certainly cannot incorporate acreage into your group consolidated balance sheets. We want specific standalone companies where you will be able to make money through Government assets on a win-win basis,” the Minister explained answering a query at a KPMG organised forum last week.

Stating that the performance of RPCs remains a worrisome issue, the Minister called for more effective management, while revealing that the maximum acreage that could be held by any standalone company, without being allowed to consolidate, would be restricted to 5,000 acres. However, he said the Government would ensure that there would be no loss of employment and that successful RPCs would be granted the first right of refusal, when being allocated land.

He pointed out that there were only four out of 20 companies that had performed vigorously, and they would be given priority, while all the others would have to justify why they could not deliver results.

“Currently, it is win for the private sector and all the problems are for the Government; that’s what we want to reverse,” Karunanayake stressed.