Prime Minister Shri.Narendra Modi believes that the biggest losers of the deadlock over the Centre’s land acquisition bill would be Odisha,Bengal & Bihar, sources close to him have said.
Whether the bill is blocked or passed in a watered-down version, it will hobble his ambitions of bringing the eastern states on a par economically with the western states, they explained.
If the Modi government fails to evolve a consensus on its version of the land law, it plans to allow the states to enact their own land laws according to their own thinking that the Centre would green-light. In that case, the western and eastern states are expected to go their separate ways.
Currently, the western states have BJP or BJP-led governments – a circumstance the Centre factored in while deciding to give the states pretty much a free hand.
In Modi’s reckoning, the “gainers” will be the western swathe of Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa which, the sources said, are gearing to make land acquisition for industrial and commercial use easier.
“The east is still hampered by an anti-industry and anti-land acquisition mindset,” a source remarked.
A joint committee of Parliament on the land bill has reportedly advised a virtual switch-back to the UPA’s 2013 land law, now superseded by an NDA ordinance that the bill looks to ratify.
Congress sources on the committee have said that even the BJP members agreed to the idea of withdrawing the partial relaxations of the provisions for a social impact assessment (SIA) and consent that the NDA had introduced in its bill. But nobody in the BJP would speak on the subject, privately or officially.
Sources said Gujarat chief minister Anandi Patel had directed her revenue department to draft amendments to the state land law so that the certification of non-agricultural land became faster, transparent and time-bound instead of the buyer having to run to multiple agencies.
Also, Patel apparently wants the tenancy act tweaked to make it easier to get land for industrial and commercial purposes and to end the restrictions on business use on surplus land acquired under the Bhoodan scheme.
Patel is said to be keen on diluting the consent and SIA clauses. At a Niti Aayog meeting last month, Patel had stressed that nobody, not even farmers, benefited from “inordinate” delays in land acquisition.
Asked if her views mirrored Modi’s, a source said: “This is Gujarat’s view.”
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis too has got down to amending the state law to exempt land acquisition for public purposes from both the SIA and consent clauses.
State government sources said Pune and Nashik were emerging as new industrial hubs, and Fadnavis was keen on creating the “most conducive legislative environment” for these cities.
Rajasthan too wants to junk the SIA and consent requirements for “core infrastructure” projects, whether carried out by the state or the private sector.
But the east presents a different picture, something that had ostensibly disturbed Modi in February 2014 when he was Gujarat chief minister.
Speaking to Patna residents at a chat show, Modi had said: “If one arm is paralysed, the body cannot be called healthy, and likewise if some part of the country is left behind in development, the nation’s health cannot be good. When we see a map of India we find that while the western states are developed, the eastern part is lagging behind.”
Steel major Posco’s impending exit from Odisha has apparently rattled Modi because the delays in acquisition of land and the iron-ore mining lease are said to have put off the Korean company.
Odisha had sought the Prime Minister’s intervention after a report quoted the Posco boss as saying that unless Modi “offers better deals”, the company would head west and do more downstream work at its Maharashtra plant.
Sources close to Modi wondered if Mamata Banerjee would rethink her stand on acquisition after her UK trip to court investors.
“She booted out the Tatas from her state. Does she expect Britain to flood her with offers?” a source asked.
Prasanta Patnaik