By Vipin Agnihotri
It has come into the notice of The India Street that acquiring cheap land by piggy riding on government’s shoulders, thanks to the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, is set to end soon. In addition, private sector companies will now have to shell out higher prices as a new Act will ensure hiking circle lands by almost 10 times.
If experts are to be believed, the new overhauled Land Acquisition Act proposes to disallow states to acquire land on behalf on the private sector. Apart from that, it also seeks to tighten the definition of public purpose for which the state has the power to compulsorily acquire land from owners-by limiting it to just a handful of sectors.
Other issues including fixing compensation packages for the displaced because of commercial and public projects will also be tackled by the new Act. When the India Street asked government official about the new Act, he said, “There are plenty of issues related to acquisition of land to be dealt with that it may not be possible to address all through amending the existing Act. The government is, therefore, seriously considering replacing the existing Act with a new one.”
At this moment of time, state governments have their own definition of what constitutes public purpose. The ambiguity may go. The new Act is expected to define public purpose narrowly by including just strategic purposes related to defence and other work pivotal to the state and public infrastructure such as electricity, mining and public facilities. Initial signs are that the list may be expanded after interministerial discussions.
In my opinion, the new Act is going to be tough on the private sector. Not only will companies won’t be able to secure government assistance in acquiring land for industrial projects, market value of the land would be suitably increased by increasing the circle rates that are at present low. “Land prices may increase up to ten times once the new rates are fixed,” pointed out government official.
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