Land Acquisition in India: Public Purpose and Private Property (C)

Abstract

On September 27, 2013, India enacted the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013 (New Land Act), replacing the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 (Old Land Act). Enacting this legislation had been onerous: it had taken two governments six years to design a bill that satisfied all stakeholders. The new law included major changes to the government's power of “ eminent domain” in land acquisitions, compensation guidelines and resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) procedures. The government lauded the New Land Act as a key policy measure for solving India's land acquisition issues that were impeding industrial growth. Despite the government's optimism, industries were worried that the new regulations would make land acquisition more expensive and time consuming, while civil-society advocates felt it did not adequately protect farmers' interests. This opposition from an unlikely alliance of industrialists and activists raised the question of how effective the act would be in resolving India's land acquisition battles.