Avoid giving farm land to industry: Centre to states
New Delhi: Wary of farmers' opposition to
land acquisitions, the Centre on Tuesday asked states not to allow
farm land for industries and said waste land should be
provided for projects.
At a meeting of the State industry ministers, Commerce
and Industry Minister Anand Sharma also asked the states to
ensure that farmers do not suffer due to industrialisation.
"Farmers should not be victims of industrialisation. They
should be partners in the process," Sharma told the ministers.
He said each state should create a waste land bank. "Use
of farm land for industrial projects should be the last
resort," he said.
However, industry ministers from Bihar, West Bengal and
Orissa - the states which have seen the maximum agitations
against land acquisition - were not present at the meeting.
The agitations against land acquisitions have been holding
large projects including the Rs 1 lakh crore steel plan by
ArcelorMittal in Orissa and Jharkhand.
Sharma also said that India can double foreign direct
investment inflows to USD 50 billion by 2012, if the Centre
and states work together.
"It is doable, provided we put our minds together," he
said. He also proposes to set up a high-level core group which
will recommend rationalisation and simplification of
procedures and creation of industrial hubs.
The country has achieved about USD 16 billion in the
first half of the current fiscal. Last year, the inflows were
about USD 27.3 billion.
Bureau Report