Farmland use splits chambers

The great divide over special economic zones has split the industry chambers as well, with the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry taking divergent views on the use of agricultural land for these zones.

The norms permit the use of up to 10 per cent of agricultural land for multi-product zones.

The CII is of the view that acquiring agricultural land for SEZs is a very small price to pay for industrial and social development.

"India has thousands of hectares of cultivable land and acquiring 1 per cent of this land for developing SEZs is not going to have a profound impact on the farmer community. SEZs will eventually lead to economic development, which will indirectly benefit the farmers. I think this issue is being unnecessarily politicised," a CII official, who declined to be named, said.

Taking a diametrically opposite stance on the matter, Ficci said prime cultivable land should be left alone.

Barren and waste land should be used for developing these zones, said Ficci President Saroj Poddar.

"The owners of such land must also be given a fair deal," he added. Commerce minister Kamal Nath has said state governments must not acquire prime agricultural land for such zones.

On its part, the third industry chamber, Assocham, prefers to take the middle path. Although it is not completely against acquisition of agricultural land for these zones, it is of the view that this must be done only in unavoidable cases.

"Agricultural land can be acquired for developing these zones, but only when it is absolutely necessary. Land must be acquired from farmers in a manner in which the local population is not affected and farmers must be given a fair price for the land," said Assocham President Anil K Agarwal.

This is in line with Nath's statement that state governments should acquire agricultural land only when it is unavoidable and that the acquired land should not exceed more than 10 per cent of the total land requirement of the zone.

For the 222 approved zones, the total land requirement is projected at around 75,000 hectares.