Ceiling on land conversion likely

MUMBAI: Taking a cue from the Centre, the Maharashtra government too is working on a land-acquisition policy that intends to cap land conversion in a single district. The need to bring in such a policy was sounded by CM Vilasrao Deshmukh himself. Addressing a meeting in Aurangabad recently, Mr Deshmukh indicated that the state government is planning a framework for land acquisition in the light of the Centre’s land-acquisition policy announced a few weeks ago. Land being a state subject, the Centre has left some of the issues to state governments.

Agitation in some of Maharashtra’s regions against land acquisition for industrial purpose seems to be driving the state to have its policy in place. “Though land acquisition can’t be completely done away with, we are trying to fix a ceiling that will determine how much agricultural land from any single district can be converted for industrial usage,” said Ashok Chavan, state industry minister, in a tête-à-tête with ET.

Mr Chavan stressed the need for striking a balance between the requirement of the industry and locals’ lifestyle. “Industry needs space to expand. But at the same time it can’t deprive farmers of their precious land. It’s a delicate issue,” he said.

He admitted that some districts have land disproportionately contributed for industrialisation when asked about the number of special economic zones (SEZs) coming up around Mumbai. As of now, the state has as many as 119 SEZs cleared by the Centre, of which 55 will only be in Konkan that has scarce land left for agriculture. Incidentally, this region has seen some of violent protests against land acquisition.

Mr Chavan, however, washed his hands off the issue. “The state government has no role to play in sanctioning SEZs. It’s industrialists and people that have a say in it,” he claimed.

According to a senior official from the industry ministry, the state’s proposed policy will also look at other sensitive issues related to land acquisition. “In many cases compensation is neither adequate nor it is given on time. The new guidelines will set valuation method and time frame for these as well,” he said.