M A I N   N E W S

PM eases land transfer norms to speed up infra projects
Sanjeev Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 2
Infrastructure projects are likely to pick up speed significantly as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today cleared relaxations in land transfer policy for government- owned lands.

Early last year, a ban had been imposed on transfer of government-owned land to any entity except in cases where land was to be transferred from one government department to another. To avoid delays, the Prime Minister has now relaxed the ban to allow all cases of land transfer from ministries to statutory authorities or public sector undertakings.

The decision will do away with the requirement of Cabinet approvals which was leading to long delays in awarding concessions for infrastructure projects, particularly PPP ones in sectors like road, railways, civil aviation, ports and metro rail.

"Requiring Cabinet approval for each PPP project meant adding a few months to complete the processes for securing Cabinet approval," a PMO statement said.

The Department of Economic Affairs was to prepare a comprehensive land transfer policy for the government- owned land.

All PPP infrastructure projects have some element of land transfer involved as the projects are often built on the government-owned land. The government continues to own the land, which is leased or licensed out. The is spearheading the exercise to resolve the issues of delays pertaining to infrastructure projects. The large projects span across several government departments and many clearances are required. It leads to delays. It has been highlighted that part of the slowdown in the economy is not primarily because of lack of new reform initiatives but because the existing projects are suffering due to lack of timely decisions.

The PM’s office recently announced the setting up of a Project Clearance Board for having an institutionalised mechanism for issuing clearances in a time-bound manner.