Govt should keep off land acquisition, says Pawar

The government should not get involved in acquisition of farmland for private projects, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has said.

On the sidelines of a Confederation of Indian industry (CII) meeting, Pawar said private companies should directly deal with farmers. "While setting up industrial projects, we should avoid using land that yields crop," he said.

Pawar said the government did not favour setting up of industries on fertile and irrigated land. "Only barren and non-fertile land should be used," he said.

The views of Pawar, an influential member of the Cabinet, are likely to carry a lot of weight with the government, which is drawing up a rehabilitation policy. The Maharashtra government, in which Pawar's party is a partner, has approved 47 SEZ proposals.

The Chief Mentor of Infosys, NR Narayana Murthy, also opposed the practice of acquiring farm land for special economic zones (SEZ), saying the earlier practice of companies building their own campuses was good enough.

"I agree that we cannot take land from farmers", he said.

Bringing real estate players in between was probably not the best thing to do, Murthy said, adding, "And that's why all this furore has been created. I think the earlier policy of requesting companies to deal directly to get land and build their own campuses is a good one."