Bengal govt plans selective relaxation in ‘land use conversion’ rules in new industrial policy

Kolkata, Aug 26 (IANS) As the West Bengal government is all set to come out with the state’s new industrial policy by the middle of next month, the new policy might bring selective relaxations in the existing “land use conversion” rules, only if that land is procured for setting up any industrial unit. 

Insiders from the state secretariat of Nabanna said, once these selective relaxations in “land use conversion” rules will be part of state’s industrial policy, the investors or the industrial units concerned will be relieved of the legal complication of using that land for industrialization purposes even after that land is legally procured for that purpose.

Explaining the technical aspects behind this selective relaxation in the “land conversion rules”, a state government officer said that even after procurement of a large plot of land at one go for setting up any industrial unit, it might be found that a substantial portion of that procured land have water bodies.

“Now often conversion of such waterbodies to be used for industrialization purposes involves a lengthy legal procedure. However, once the selective relaxation in ‘land use conversion’ rules will be part of the new industrial policy, those legal complications will be over. However, this selective relaxation in the ‘land use conversion’ rules will be allowed only for land procured for industrial units in the manufacturing or services sectors. The real estate sector might not be entitled for such selective relaxation,” the state government official said.

Similarly, he added, the new industrial policy to be announced next month, might also propose easier norms for procuring “Barga Land (land transferred in the name of sharecroppers through title deeds” for setting up industries.

In such cases, the “Barga land” plots remaining unused over a certain period of time will be procured by the state government and the administration will pay the amount for purchasing that land in equal proportions to both the landowners and the sharecroppers concerned at the existing market rates or even at rates slightly higher than that.

Barga land is land transferred to sharecroppers through title deeds, where instead of paying a fixed cash rent, the cultivator or the sharecropper gives an agreed-upon portion of the harvest (often a half or a third) to the actual landowners.

In case of procurement of Barga land, both the landowner and the sharecropper concerned will have right over the purchase money paid by the state government.

The govt official added that the real problem the solution for which is yet to ascertained is regarding procurement of tribal land for industries.

“The law on transfer of tribal land is very strict. This land cannot be transferred to any community other than the tribals in any way. As a result, in several districts, just as the government cannot take tribal land for industrial purposes, those landholders cannot sell that land even if they want to. The government does not yet have an immediate solution to this problem,” said the official.

--src/mr