Granting a much needed demand from India Inc, the
government allowed easier norms for acquiring land in five key sectors
including security and defense, infrastructure, power and affordable housing.
The Union cabinet used its executive powers to make the
new changes even as it left the level of compensation unchanged. Indian
industry has been lobbying for dilution of the so-called restrictive rules
defined by the land acquisition law put in place by the previous government.
With this decision, the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has once again reiterated its
intent to create an environment that’s friendly for business.
Addressing a press conference after a meeting of the
Union cabinet, finance Minister Arun Jaitley said projects in defense, rural
electrification, and housing for the poor and industrial corridors would not
require the approval of 80% of affected landowners. Nor would they need a
social impact study involving public hearings, as prescribed in the Right to
Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Act, 2013. “The cabinet recommended to the President the
promulgation of ordinance to amend the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Settlement Act,” Jaitley added.
The government said that urgency of the land acquisition
ordinance was because under Section 105 of the Act, 13 pieces of
legislation—including the Atomic Energy Act 1962, Railways Act 1989, National
Highways Act 1956, and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978—needed
clarity on which provisions of the Act applies to them. And their exclusion
deadline ends on 1 January 2015.
The amendment in Section 105 has included the
provision that compensation and rehabilitation for the land that is acquired
will be applicable in the 13 exempted Acts as well. The government has inserted
a new provision that will ease the process of acquiring lands for the five key
sectors.
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