Land for road projects might get 5-yr use clause

Land acquired but unused could well be returned to its owner. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), a major government agency which acquires land, would soon come out with a scheme that would return land to the owner from whom it was taken if it is not used within five years for the purpose it was acquired.

A provision to this effect is part of the amendments to the land acquisition legislation to be tabled in Parliament. Union road transport minister Kamal Nath said the Land Acquisition (amendment) Bill, 2007, to amend the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, would go to the Parliamentary standing committee in the same form and would be introduced in Parliament in this session.

Nath was speaking at the release of India Infrastructure Report 2009.

The Bill has met with opposition from Trinamool Congress leader and railway minister Mamata Banerjee, who raised serious objections to the Bill in the Cabinet meeting held on Thursday evening.

Banerjee opposed a provision that allows private developers to acquire 70 per cent of the land for a proposed industrial project directly from the landowners. The remaining 30 per cent is to be acquired by the government, according to the proposed Bill.

Land acquisition is a major problem in all infrastructure projects. Of the 190 delayed projects, 70 per cent are delayed on account of land acquisition problems. Sixty projects being implemented by Indian Railways, 40 by NHAI and 28 power projects are facing difficulties in acquiring land.