Without red tape, plans to let private sector manage surplus land can work

Of all the parts of the disinvestment programme that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in her Budget speech, the sale of land could become the most useful piece of government action in the sector.

It took nearly 70 years for the Government of India to recognise the merits of allowing the private sector to manage surplus government land. Once fully fleshed out, this could be a far larger play for companies other than those that operate in the real estate sector — though the S&P BSE realty index soared 15.29 per cent against the broad market Sensex 50’s 6.3 per