Infra Projects to be kept out of the loop of Land Acquisition Act
The rules of the new Land Acquisition Act will not apply on the large-scale projects, such as industrial corridors and national highways. This solution was proposed by the Commerce and Industry Ministry to avoid delays in these projects. Provisions such as mandatory consent of project-affected people for land acquisition should not apply to infrastructure projects.
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), in a submission to the Rural Development Ministry mentioned that acquiring land for projects such as roads, railway and ports has come to a halt since the new Land Acquisition Act was implemented early this year. If the Government-led projects are not excluded from the ambit of this act, then they will be at a standstill due to the lengthy process of the land acquisition act. The ambitious plans to build and upgrade infrastructure across the country will be completely stuck.
As per the new legislation — the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act —it is mandatory for the developers to obtain the consent of at least 70 % of the people whose land will be acquired for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects. In the case of private projects it goes up to 80%.
Road Minister Nitin Gadkari, who also has additional charge of Rural Development, mentioned that road projects worth Rs 60,000 crore are stuck as there are on-going disputes in the Supreme Court and High Courts. He also mentioned that he had discussed the various provisions of the Act with State governments and that the Prime Minister would take a final call shortly.
Source- The Hindu Business Line
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