Land Acquisition Bill will help economical use of land: PC

The Land Acquisition Bill will help in economical use of land which is a scarce commodity in the country, government today said.
Ruling out any adverse impact of the Land Bill and the Food Bill on financial markets, government said the two legislations have been debated upon for months and was factored in by the markets.
"People will now realise land is a scarce commodity and it must be economically used," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said after the Cabinet meeting.
He said "we have debated it. We believe that the Land Bill strikes a fair balance and renders a long-denied justice to those who are being deprived of it."

On its huge cost that may affect the market sentiment, Chidambaram said "it is completely wrong to say that the markets are spoofed or the markets are enthused by this Bill. These have been factored in long ago by the markets."
He said the Food Bill and the Land Bill have been there and debated for many months.

"The Food Bill and the Land bill have been in public domain for many many months. These two bills have been debated for many months," the Finance Minister said.
Asked whether the cost of projects will increase many times on account of high land acquisition cost after this Bill, Chidambaram said land as a proportion of project cost is an extremely small cost but will give other benefits like people now economising on land.

On the Food Bill, the minister said the Rs 90,000 crore earmarked during the current fiscal for PDS distribution and Food Security Bill will be enough for the remaining five months of the year.