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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Limited land relief plan-Pranesh Sarkar and Sambit Saha

Limited land relief plan-Pranesh Sarkar and Sambit Saha

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published Published on Mar 30, 2012   modified Modified on Mar 30, 2012

The Bengal government is set to grant a never-before concession to developers of township projects, under which government companies will be allowed to hold and lease out land in excess of ceiling without prior permission.

However, no activity other than real estate development is being allowed such flexibility despite industry complaining about difficulties involving land.

“It seems the (amendment) proposal is highly lopsided. Does the government think only township development would be enough to spur economic activity in the state?” asked an executive with a Mumbai-based steel company.

If the amendment to the West Bengal Land Reforms Act, 1955, is not changed further before it is tabled in the ongoing Assembly session, it will exempt government companies involved in township projects from the land ceiling restrictions, an official at Writers’ Buildings said.

Nor will they need permission to lease out this land to other players, who can subsequently lease it out again.

The amendment, which the state government plans to introduce before the budget session ends on April 2, is also expected to do away with a clause that made it mandatory for projects involving ceiling-excess land to be completed within three years.

At present, anyone who wishes to hold or acquire ceiling-excess land for township projects needs to secure prior approval from the government under Section 14Y of the 1955 act. In Bengal, one can hold a maximum of 24.20 acres (non-irrigated) and 17.3 acres (irrigated) land.

Only local authorities such as municipalities or municipal corporations can hold land in excess of the ceiling without having to seek government approval.

“If the amendment is passed, the private promoters who get leases of ceiling-excess land from government companies will not require clearance for holding the land or further leasing it out to others. They will also not be bound to deliver a project in three years,” a government official said.

A local industrialist who has submitted suggestions to the government said the state should have relaxed the norm for all industries.

“The new government has decided not to acquire land; it wants us to buy land directly. But it is not facilitating the process through which industry can buy land directly. The land department takes a long time, at times months, to give clearance for holding ceiling-excess land,” the industrialist said.

Now, while an industry waits for 14Y clearance from the land department for a particular plot, the news reaches the market and land brokers start hoarding land. Industry had demanded at least retrospective clearance for ceiling-excess land.

Senior Writers’ Buildings officials said that developers had demanded the waiver of the three-year deadline for completing projects on ceiling-excess land, citing how projects often got delayed in Bengal because of various reasons.

“The new amendment will not impose any such time bar on the government companies for completion of the projects,” said an official.

The amendment will also allow certain new sectors to acquire and hold ceiling-excess land and to lease it out — but only with prior permission.

These sectors are: industrial parks, financial hubs, warehousing, farm-product industries, power plants, film cities, tourism projects, educational and medical institutes, bio-tech parks, food parks, ports, airports and shipyards.

The Telegraph, 30 March, 2012, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120330/jsp/frontpage/story_15313196.jsp#.T3VgBWGO0fU


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