A damning report from the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has exposed that the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) operated from illegal premises in Hyderabad for close to two decades. The central government body, a vital research organization under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), failed to obtain mandatory building permissions and occupancy certificates for its campus.
Two Decades of Unauthorized Occupation
The audit found that at least 14 buildings on the INCOIS campus in Nizampet, Hyderabad, lacked the required sanctions from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). Shockingly, the organization completed construction and occupied its main building as early as September 2004 without the necessary clearances.
Between 2011 and 2019, INCOIS undertook phase two works of its main building and constructed and occupied 13 additional buildings on the same campus in a phased manner. All this development proceeded without obtaining the legally mandated building permissions. The CAG report notes that INCOIS applied for permission for one building, the International Training Centre, only in 2017, despite occupying it in 2019. For the majority of the other structures, the organization applied for regularization as late as 2022.
A Costly Oversight: ₹1.58 Crore in Penalties
The prolonged failure to regularize the buildings resulted in significant financial loss for the exchequer. The GHMC continuously levied penalties due to the unauthorized constructions. INCOIS ended up paying a total penalty of Rs 1.58 crore between the financial years 2014-2015 and 2021-2022.
The CAG firmly rejected the MoES's justification that INCOIS occupied the buildings to "serve the nation and humanity." The audit body stated that rules clearly mandate obtaining permission and an occupancy certificate, and payment of statutory dues is compulsory. "The penalties paid are irrecoverable losses which INCOIS could have avoided had it taken timely action," the CAG emphasized.
Partial Regularization in 2024
According to the ministry's response cited in the report, INCOIS finally received the building permission order for its existing structures in 2024. An occupancy certificate has been obtained for 10 of the 14 buildings. The MoES stated that the certificates for the remaining four buildings would be acquired shortly.
However, the audit highlighted that this action came nearly five years after the 100% penalty was imposed for the violations, and almost two decades after the initial occupation. This case underscores significant lapses in administrative compliance by a premier national research institution, leading to an entirely avoidable expenditure of public funds.
