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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Land Acquisition Bill: Stiffer consent requirements for land acquisition for private companies restored-Urmi Goswami

Land Acquisition Bill: Stiffer consent requirements for land acquisition for private companies restored-Urmi Goswami

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published Published on Oct 31, 2012   modified Modified on Oct 31, 2012
-The Economic Times

A ministerial panel working on changes to the Land Acquisition Bill has restored a provision that entails stiffer consent requirements for land acquisition for private companies and extending the legislation to all unfinished acquisitions from the day it becomes effective, clauses that are unlikely to make the bill popular with industry.

The two clauses are among some 25 changes that have been made to the bill by the group of ministers headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday evening met with Pawar to finalise the ministerial panel's recommendations and the ministry has since circulated these changes to all members of the group and given them time until Monday to send in their comments, officials familiar the matter told ET. The government is keen to introduce the bill in the upcoming winter session of parliament that starts on November 21.

The proposed law will be applicable to all projects where the process of acquisition is not complete. All acquisitions where land is yet to be awarded and/or compensation has not been paid on the day the bill becomes effective will be covered by the legislation.

All incomplete acquisitions under the Land Acquisition Act 1894 will lapse on the date the new law comes into effect, forcing developers to restart the process of acquisition in accordance with the provisions of the new law.

Addressing a major concern raised by Roads Minister CP Joshi on the demands for higher compensation by states, the bill will now exempt any state law under which state governments acquire land to build state highways.

The new bill makes a differentiation between land acquisition for public private partnership projects, where the land's ownership will remain with the government, and private projects considered to be of public purpose. Land acquired for PPP projects will need the consent of 66% of land owners and people on government assigned land, while acquisition for private projects will require the consent of 80%.

Large parts of the country have people with possession of government-assigned lands over which they have no ownership rights. Some GoM members such as Tribal Affairs Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo had argued that limiting consent to only those who owned the land would lead to problems, given the practice of assigned lands. 

The GoM had initially agreed on a consent requirement of 66%, but the tougher consent requirement was introduced at the suggestion of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

In an attempt to stem the possibility of profiteering, the bill provides that in case the acquired land or any portion of it is resold, 20% of the resale price will have to be given to the land owner from whom it had been acquired or their legal heirs.

The proposed bill gives state governments the right to set up land pricing commissions to determine the cost of the land. The state government can also increase the compensation amount by taking into account the rise in price index.

In addition to the market value of land, several factors such as such as the loss sustained by taking standing crops or severing land from other land, injury to people or property, change of residence will be taken into account in calculating the award.

To safeguard land owners and their dependents, the proposed bill suggests that authorities will take possession of the land once the monetary component of the compensation package has been paid.

The bill also seeks to address concerns about land owners holding out against acquisition, allowing for surveys to be undertaken in absence of the owners if it can be established that the authorities gave the owner every possible opportunity to be present. 

The Economic Times, 31 October, 2012, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/land-acquisition-bill-stiffer-consent-requirements-for-land-acquisition-for-private-companies-restored/art


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