West Bengal examining land law reforms to ease industrial expansion: Official

Kolkata: The West Bengal government is looking at reforms in land laws to make it easier for industries to hold and utilise larger parcels of land, while also seeking to simplify the acquisition process where recorded 'bargadars' (sharecroppers) are no longer engaged in cultivation, a senior official said on Saturday.

Subrata Gupta, advisor to Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, said simply repealing the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act would not be enough to address the land constraints faced by industry, as most industrial units do not fall under urban land ceiling provisions.

"Repealing the Act may help in future, but it will not be a silver bullet for industry. Most industries are outside the urban areas and don't fall under that law; what we need is adequate reform of land laws that are stringent on holding and utilisation," Gupta said while addressing members of the Hindu Economic Forum.


He said land already "vested" under the Act would likely remain so even if the legislation were repealed. Instead, revamping the West Bengal Land Reforms Act was more critical to allowing industries to hold the land required for their operations, he said.

"The government is therefore examining provisions of the land reforms Act that restrict the holding and utilisation of land, particularly when large industrial projects require contiguous parcels for their operations," Gupta said.

"If a large unit comes, it will require a larger quantum of land, and we will have to provide laws so that the company can hold on to that land and use it for its purposes," he said.

He said the government is working on a formula to legally remove 'bargadars' from land that is no longer used for farming.

Gupta also clarified that the issue of 'bargadars' is not about taking away the legal rights of those who are actually cultivating land.

"The problem arises when land acquisition involves recorded 'bargadars' who are no longer engaged in farming. We are trying to simplify the process in such cases. But where 'bargadars' are functioning, their legal benefits remain protected," he told PTI.

The issue has assumed importance as assembling large tracts of land remains a major challenge in the densely populated state, particularly around Kolkata.

Gupta cited the Tata Nano project at Singur, where 997 acres of land involved more than 14,300 interested parties, to illustrate the complexity of land aggregation for large projects.

The state is now considering two new models for aggregating land to facilitate the development of industrial parks and land acquisition for industry.

The proposed reforms broadly cover land holding and ceiling provisions, land conversion for industrial use, bargadar rights and issues concerning tribal land.

On tribal land, Gupta said it remained a complex issue and that there was no immediate solution.

"The state is also looking towards North Bengal and western districts such as Purulia and Bankura for industrial expansion, where relatively larger parcels of land are available," he added.

West Bengal has a population density of around 1,100 people per square kilometre, nearly three times the national average, making land availability a particularly sensitive issue for industrial development.

The government aims to make the state one of the top three states in the country in terms of industrial investment over the next decade, Gupta said.