Chandigarh, November 30
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and his brother-in-law and state Information Technology Minister Adesh Pratap Kairon today clashed over the land allotment policy for non-polluting industry at a Council of Ministers' meeting.

The face-off between the two took place in the presence of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Sources said Sukhbir and Kairon engaged in a verbal spat for almost 30 minutes over the land allotment policy for industry such as IT, IT-enabled services and electronic design, spread over 402 acres in Mohali. The Deputy Chief Minister finally conceded to the changes in the policy, as suggested by Kairon.

The agenda regarding the land allotment policy for IT companies was brought by the housing department, which comes under the Deputy Chief Minister. Sources said the moment the agenda item was brought up for review before the Council of Ministers, Kairon, raised his objections, suggesting he was not taken into confidence even though he was the minister concerned.

The sources said Kairon objected to the fact that the policy was biased in favour of big IT companies, which would be offered land in Mohali. He reportedly said while companies that opted for bigger plots were getting land at lower rates (Rs 2.95 crore per acre for a 50 acre plot), smaller IT companies would get land at much higher rates (Rs 5 crore per acre for one acre or less plots).

The IT Minister reportedly said the need was to promote small IT companies if the government was serious about promoting the industry in the state. The Deputy Chief Minister, who also holds the portfolio of investment promotion, tried to justify the policy, but the IT minister seemed to be in no mood to relent, said a source witness to the spar.

It was ultimately left to the Chief Minister to play the peacemaker, and it was suggested that the IT minister's suggestions be incorporated in the land allotment policy.

This is not the first time that Kairon has expressed his displeasure over not being consulted before the policies related to his department are being finalised.

In the Cabinet meeting held on October 3, Kairon had argued with another member of the first family, Revenue and Public Relations Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, over the state's industrial policy and grant of ministerial status to media advisers to Sukhbir.