Ficci wants relook at land Bill

Industry body Ficci on Friday said the Centre should relook at certain clauses of the proposed Land Acquisition Bill such as role of state governments and the entitlements for the private sector, prior to placing it before the Cabinet.

The Group of Ministers on Land Acquisition Bill, headed by agricultural minister Sharad Pawar, had approved the proposed legislation with changes last month. In a letter to Pawar, Ficci president R V Kanoria said state governments should also help in land acquisition for the private sector other than public purpose projects.

In a densely populated country like India, states must necessarily have a facilitating role in land acquisition for the industry as in some cases where large pieces of land are required there may be a problem for a marginal number who hold out, he said.

"However, as we understand the Bill totally rules out the possibility of land acquisition for private sector, except in case of 'public purpose', even if private sector has purchased majority of the land needed for the project," he added.

He said in case of large projects like steel and cement there is going to be a problem for private sector in the last mile purchase.

"In such cases, if the government does not facilitate acquisition then in all possibility the projects may not take off. Hence, in those cases where 75% of the land has been purchased, the Bill could provide for acquisition by private sector if requested by industry," he added.

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