Cabinet approves Land Acquisition Bill

The union cabinet today approved the Land Acquisition and Resettlement Bill, which seeks to enhance compensation for lands acquired for public purposes. The bill will be tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.

The bill provides for compensation to the farmer at the rate of four times the current value of land in urban areas and two times the land value in rural areas. The bill also seeks to ensure "livelihood compensation" for displaced farmers.

Consent of 80 per cent of people will be made mandatory for all land acquisitions except where land is acquired for public purpose. Public purpose is defined as land use for strategic purposes, infrastructure and industry.

However, consent will not be mandatory when land is acquired by the government for its own use.

Urgency clause will only be invoked in rarest of rare cases like national defence.

There will be different land acquisition norms for rural and urban areas.