West Bengal may buy land directly for industrial investors
The state government plans to purchase plots from owners to provide to companies, according to a report by Urban Acres.
The West Bengal government is planning to play a more active role in securing land for industrial investors by purchasing plots directly from landowners to transfer to companies, according to a report by Urban Acres citing The Telegraph.
The proposed policy could be announced on November 5 alongside the state's industrial incentive policy. Under this model, the government would buy land from owners to make parcels available to investors and assist companies seeking to buy land directly.
This approach aims to address difficulties in obtaining contiguous land parcels without the political and social conflicts linked to compulsory acquisition. The previous Trinamool Congress government had requested that investors purchase land directly from farmers after coming to power in 2011.
A senior official told The Telegraph that the new policy is expected to offer a more attractive compensation package than the previous direct-purchase policy, which offered 1.5 times the market rate. The policy is also expected to include a separate rehabilitation framework for bargadars, or share-croppers.
One official cautioned that the direct-purchase route does not guarantee that all owners will agree to sell, which could make assembling contiguous land difficult. The government has not abandoned land pooling, though that option may take longer to implement.
A separate land policy containing details on compensation and rehabilitation is expected to be released at a later date.