Land Acquisition Law Will Spike Costs, Delay Projects: Experts

“The law will bring more certainty on a critical issue impeding infrastructure development,” said Manish Agarwal, executive director, infrastructure, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) India.
“The government may need to bear the cost of land acquisition since user may not be able to bear the cost in all cases. This balance between cost to tax-payers and users remains critical in design of PPPs,” Agarwal said.
Rehabilitation and resettlement is an integral part of the new legislation. Many big projects have been delayed or aborted across the country due to the issues related to rehabilitation and resettlement.
The proposed law lays down that rehabilitation and resettlement compensation should be house, one-time allowance and either 500,000 or a job or inflation adjusted 2,000 per month for 20 years, for the affected family that includes farm labourers, tenants, sharecroppers and workers.
President of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry Suman Jyoti Khaitan said the new legislation would quicken the process of project implementation.
“The new law will facilitate rights of landowners, promote industrialisation at a faster pace, mitigate law and order issues and would bring transparency at large,” Khaitan said.
“However, implementation part is very critical to achieve desired outcome as there are minimum 55 approvals required to implement any project,” he said.

Read More: Tricks To Make Your Small Home Look Bigger