Highlights of the Bill

• The Bill provides for land acquisition as well as rehabilitation and resettlement.  It replaces the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
• 

• The process for land acquisition involves a Social Impact Assessment survey, preliminary notification stating the intent for acquisition, a declaration of acquisition, and compensation to be given by a certain time.  All acquisitions require rehabilitation and resettlement to be provided to the people affected by the acquisition.

• Compensation for the owners of the acquired land shall be four times the market value in case of rural areas and twice in case of urban areas.

• In case of acquisition of land for use by private companies or public private partnerships, consent of 80 per cent of the displaced people will be required.  Purchase of large pieces of land by private companies will require provision of rehabilitation and resettlement.

• The provisions of this Bill shall not apply to acquisitions under 16 existing legislations including the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005, the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, the Railways Act, 1989, etc.

Key Issues and Analysis

• It is not clear whether Parliament has jurisdiction to impose rehabilitation and resettlement requirements on private purchase of agricultural land.

• The requirement of a Social Impact Assessment for every acquisition without a minimum thresholdmay delay the implementation of certain government programmes.

• Projects involving land acquisition and undertaken by private companies or public private partnerships require the consent of 80 per cent of the people affected.  However, no such consent is required in case of PSUs.

• The market value is based on recent reported transactions.  This value is doubled in rural areas to arrive at the compensation amount.  This method may not lead to an accurate adjustment for the possible underreporting of prices in land transactions.

• The government can temporarily acquire land for a maximum period of three years.  There is no provision for rehabilitation and resettlement in such cases.

Read the complete analysis here