Haryana govt approves policy on land acquisition

The Haryana government today approved a policy on purchase of land voluntarily offered to government by farmers for development projects.
A decision to this effect was taken in a meeting of the State Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar here, an official spokesman said.
The policy aims at preventing distress sales of land by farmers and involving the land owners in decision making while locating the sites of development projects in the state.
An online portal shall be created where any land owner may at any time make an offer to sell his land.

The Cabinet also approved a proposal for providing guarantee for a loan of Rs 876 crore to be taken by Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation from HUDCO to acquire 365 acres of land for the Mass Rapid Transport System project between Gurugram and Manesar.
The project is of great strategic importance and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has committed in-principle to provide Rs 16,000 crore for the project.

The Cabinet took a farmer-friendly decision to cut short delays and repeated litigation in Khasra Girdawari, Mutations, Partition and demarcation revenue cases, by amending sections 13, 16, 20, 111, 113 and 118, besides inserting section 115A in the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887.

The cabinet also approved amendments certain sections of the Punjab Security of Land Tenures Act, 1953, to ensure lease of agriculture land to private sector on long-term basis in such a way that farmers/land owners are not alienated from their ownership rights.
It will also encourage food processing sector, a release said.
These amendments will also promote agricultural efficiency by removing the fear of land owners and the land would be put to optimum use by increasing land under cultivation.
The cabinet also approved a proposal to amend the Haryana Value Added Tax Rules to provide for new tax range of Rohtak and re-distribute the districts in the ranges, which have now increased to five.

The state cabinet also approved the proposal to exempt bio diesel from levy of Value Added Tax.
Bio diesel being a useful alternative of diesel and also good for environment, promoting its use would result in lesser requirement of crude oil and thereby saving foreign exchange on imports of crude oil, the spokesman said.
By exempting bio diesel from levy of VAT, the State Government would bear a financial implication of Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs two lakh, he said.