The Question of Land and Infrastructure Development in India: Urgently Required Reforms for Fairness and Infrastructural Development

Abstract

Land in India is problematic largely because of archaic and perverse provisions in the practice and the law. The new Land Acquisition Amendment Bill does go some way to correct the anti-democratic and imperial provisions of the old 1894 Act. This paper provides an analytical critique of the law and restrictions as also of the framework of urban planning and provides a justification for why major change is required in the approach to land markets, land acquisition, and urban planning. It also provides the key elements of a reformed approach that can create a win-win framework for development. Suggestions on how the proposed amendment to the Land Acquisition Act to make it more functional and remove the residual perversities are also given.