Bengal assembly passes bill to relax land ceiling laws

Kolkata -  The West Bengal assembly Monday passed a bill to relax urban land ceiling laws, aiming to facilitate setting up of manufacturing units for the state's rapid industrialisation.

The West Bengal Land Reforms (Amendment) Bill, 2012, which was passed 252-46, would allow individuals and companies to acquire and hold land more than the prescribed ceiling limit with  permission from the state government.

Left Front members, however, slammed the bill, saying it might bring back the old order of the landlords and would "infringe the benefits" of land reforms of the previous Left government.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee, who introduced the Bill for discussions, said a committee of ministers, headed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, would look into the  proposals for setting up new units on a case to case basis.

Reiterating the government’s stand that under no circumstances it would forcibly acquire land, Chaterjee, also the state industry ministry, said the committee would give its consent to  acquire land more than ceiling limit (24 acres) only after considering the detailed project reports and the amount of employment generated from the projects.

Citing a clause in the bill, the minister said the government would also be able to take back the land allotted for setting up any industrial unit, if the land remained unutilised for a period  of  three years.