This will make it difficult for industry to set up projects, CII said. Assembling land from numerous owners is not a task which the corporate sector can undertake effectively. The government should retain its role of acquiring land for industrial development, as industrialization is key to job creation, CII said.

It further said that the clause ‘public purpose’ should empower the state to acquire land not only for infrastructure or defence purposes but also for developing land for economic activity.

CII criticized another provision in the bill that requires the acquirer to share the capital gains with the original owners or their heirs whenever the acquired land is sold. It is an impossibly onerous task for the private sector, the CII said. It suggested setting up state land bank corporations, that would acquire non-cultivable land, develop them and pass them on to the private sector.

The Ministry of Rural Development refused to comment on CII’s press statement saying that a group of ministers is vetting the bill. “We will table the bill only after the ministers submit their report,” said Rita Sinha, secretary (Department of Land Resources), Ministry of Rural Development.

In October 2008, a Parliamentary Standing committee had criticized certain clauses in the bill. In its report, the committee said the clause relating to states acquiring 30 per cent of a project land is vague and can be misused.

“The previous definition (which broadly says that the government will acquire land for projects that benefit the public) was much better and should be retained,”

the report said.

Land rights activists, however, hail the bill and say it offers a good chance to farmers for negotiating the price of their land with the industry.

“Industry’s reaction was bound to come as it cannot forcibly acquire land like the government does,” said S Parasuraman, director of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. According to Parasuraman, the entire process of land selling should be governed by market forces. “Otherwise, the process will get complicated as the price difference between acquisition prices paid by private buyers and the government will be huge. And nobody would want to give land to the government at low prices,” he said.

With less time left for the Parliament session, it seems unlikely that the bill will get through, said a CII official. And this will give industry a chance to push its agenda.

In another development, the Central Empowered Committee, which advises the supreme court on forest-related cases, recommended that mines, steel plant and captive port— POSCO‘s proposed projects—should be considered as one and reviewed in entirety for its ecological significance and rehabilitation plans rather than as three different projects. POSCO filed an affidavit in the apex court on January 4, contesting the recommendations and asking for separate clearances for its three “separate’ projects. The case will come up for hearing in the third week of January.

While POSCO officials haven’t agreed to the people’s demands of sharing the company’s profits yet, the Orissa government is planning to set up a high-level committee to discuss them. The villagers also want Rs 25 lakh per acre for their agricultural land and Rs 40 lakh per acre for their homestead land. Other demands include job guarantee, Rs 1,000-monthly allowance to people above 60 and Rs 3,000 per month for families who do not have members eligible for jobs, including the landless who were employed as daily wagers in the betel farms.

The demands were finalized in a meeting organized by Damodar Rout, a local MLA.

“The 52-member committee I formed has made the demand. The state government will take a final decision after the demarcation survey is done. However, it appears unlikely that the company will share its profits with people,’ Rout said.

When officials went for the survey, the villagers did not allow them to do it. They said their demands must be fulfilled first. The survey has been put off for an indefinite period.

Under duress Activists from Orissa Bachao Andolan (oba), a protesting organization, say the demands have been made by “so-called POSCO supporters’ only, mostly in the Nuagaon panchayat.

“The talk of 5 per cent share in profits is a rumour. Some people had earlier demanded Rs 14 lakh per acre for their agricultural land and a two-room house with all amenities. But POSCO officers rejected the demands saying they were exorbitant. The officers told them to come up with a charter of demands, which they have now,’ says Nikunj Bhutia of oba.

People of three panchayats—Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Gandhakujanga—have been protesting against land acquisition for the steel plant and a captive port for POSCO since July 2005. Activists also say people gave in to POSCO because of the threats and punishments they were being subjected to after the villages were cordoned in November last year (see ‘POSCO war’, Down To Earth, December 31, 2007). SP Mishra, public relations officer of the Orissa governor, says the imbroglio will be resolved soon. “A lot of time has been lost and constructions have to begin by April. So, the government may give in to the demands,’ he said.