 "Govt's road map for land reform the fastest, says Jaitley")
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday that the government's roadmap for reforms to make it easier for businesses to buy land was the fastest route to passing it.
The government referred its Land Acquisition Bill to a committee after failing to pass it in the parliamentary session just ended, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's almost a year-old government.
The opposition Congress party, defeated by Modi's nationalist party in a general election last May, has fought back against the bill, calling it ‘anti-farmer’. The NDA government lacks the votes in the Rajya Sabha to pass the measure.
Jaitley also said that foreign direct investment (FDI) into India had risen by 40% in the FY-2015 from a year ago.
Addressing a news conference, Jaitley said the nearly one-year-old government faced challenges in increasing infrastructure spending and boosting manufacturing.