Earmark land 50 yrs prior setting up any industry

* Plan panel says demographic change may render land unsuitable for purpose.

Identifying land and water as the two most crucial prerequisites for promoting industrialisation,Planning Commission has asked the government to earmark land allotment 25-50 years in advance of actual setting up of any utility. The Plan panels Working Group for the 12th Plan period has also recommended that the industry should be made responsible for rehabilitating people,and pricing of land should be done in a way that ensures its effective utilisation.

The Working Group of Land and Water set up by Commission Member Arun Maira and headed by CII President B Muthuraman in its recent meeting discussed at length the need for creation of land banks,assessment of land prices and extension of rehabilitation compensation.

The Group inferred that the government should earmark land at least 25-50 years in advance of actual development of the industry,as in this time span the demographic qualities of land may change leading to land becoming unsuitable for the purpose for which it was earmarked, according to an official who attended the meeting.

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The Group has suggested that demarcation of land should be sectoral as different sectors can have separate requirements and appropriate land allocation can greatly influence the growth and scale of these sectors.

The Working Groups observations assume importance in the wake of Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Councils reported desire that government be involved in all land acquisition for public purposes. It has suggested that compensation for those whose land is acquired for public purposes will be much more than the registered sale deed value,including solatium. The NAC has also proposed that the urgency clause will be used only for national security and defence and one legislation will look at both land acquisition and rehabilitation.

The Working Group favoured taking lessons from the development of Special Economic Zones and Haryanas land acquisition policy saying the state governments compensation package for those whose land was being acquired.

The BS Hooda-led Haryana government has earned appreciation for its land acquisition policy. It has fixed the minimum floor rates in the urban areas of Gurgaon,adjoining the national capital.

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The Group said industry should take the full responsibility for rehabilitating displaced people. Delving on the need to ensuring an effective pricing mechanism,it reasoned that pricing should be decided in such a way so as to put some pressure on the industry to utilise this resource in an effective manner.

On the water front the Working Group observed that considerations ought to be given for water harvesting to ensure its availability.

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