Cabinet to take up land bank policy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 1

A policy to create land bank for industrial projects, using the village common lands, is coming up for discussion in tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting. The policy is expected to be announced during the upcoming Progressive Punjab Summit behind held on December 5-6.

The Punjab State Industries Export Corporation (PSIEC) and Rural Development Departments have worked to formulate the draft policy. The village common land, also known as shamlat land, is vested with a panchayat and utilised or disposed of for the benefit of villagers. The idea behind transferring the land to the Industry Department is to ensure that not only the industrial investors get a collective chunk of land for setting up big projects at reasonable rates, but the panchayats too get funds for development works.

On the similar lines, the Housing Department is also working on a policy to create a land bank for industrial projects. Under this, the landowners having less than an acre would be allowed to club their land with another owner and apply as a single landowner.

A senior government functionary said owners would be able to opt for compensation under the right to fair compensation and transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, or for commercial and industrial plots in the land pooling policy. It has been proposed that the landowner opting for the land pooling can opt for three plots, industrial and commercial, depending upon the area (one acre, 1.5 acre or 2 acres) being acquired. Another option would be giving two industrial plots for one acre of land being acquired.

Besides, the state government has readied the draft for the groundwater regulatory authority to fix and regulate the water that can be drawn from the ground. The authority will also determine the water tariff and charges on a volumetric basis. Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh recently chaired a meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee set up to prepare the draft of the authority. It could not be ascertained where the draft of the proposed authority would be tabled in tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting

Once the authority is set up, all users will have to pay for using water, based on a more scientific calculation, rather than the flat charges. A distinction will be made in pricing and cross-subsidisation of water for drinking, irrigation, industrial and commercial purposes. This is the first big step being initiated by the Capt Amarinder Singh government to regulate the indiscriminate use of groundwater. It is the need of the hour, especially with the groundwater level dipping steadily.

Investors, panchayats to benefit

The idea behind transferring the land to the Industry Department is to ensure that not only the industrial investors get a collective chunk of land for setting up big projects at reasonable rates, but the panchayats too get funds for development works.