Union Cabinet approves ordinance to amend Land Acquisition Act

30 Dec 2014 Evaluate

In a bid to ease the process of acquiring land, the Union Cabinet approved an ordinance to amend the contentious land acquisition act, which would relax some limitations including a 'consent clause' which so far has acted as obstacle for power, highways, housing, defence and infrastructure projects, thereby holding up the economy's growth potential. With this, the Cabinet has amended the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.

The “consent clause” requires consent of 70% -80% of land owners, if acquisitions are meant for defence and defence production, rural infrastructure including electrification, housing for poor and affordable housing, industrial corridors and infrastructure projects including projects under Public-Private Partnership mode, where ownership the land continues to be vested with the government. The amendments in the ordinance have been approved to unshackle defence, infrastructure and rural power projects caught in land acquisition procedures.

Further, such acquisitions will also be exempt from Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and the application of Food Security Act, two other requirements laid down under the Land Acquisition Act which were widely identified as factors hurdling projects and development.

Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, was brought in last year by the previous UPA government and was touted as landmark legislation. But, the Act has been criticized by the industry and certain other sections for making land acquisition more complicated and tedious.

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