New Delhi Despite the relevant parliamentary standing committee’s unequivocal ‘No’ to government acquiring land for projects involving private money, Jairam Ramesh’s rural development ministry plans to seek the Cabinet’s nod for a proposal to allow such acquisition with caveats: The project should be in “public interest”; 80% of affected families must give their consent; and post-acquisition, land ownership must rest with the government.

The move — which aims to make more land available for projects in a country where public funds don’t match investment needs — is likely to be hailed by industry as “pragmatic”

The National Council for Land Reforms (NCLR), which held its maiden meeting on Tuesday under the chairmanship of rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, proposed to launch a new scheme for “homestead rights to provide land for each homeless rural poor.” The council, which is headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has also proposed to amend the SEZ Act, aiming to put a ban on exemptions on diversion of land in Scheduled Areas, populated by tribals.

New Delhi Power companies having long-term power supply contracts with traders, state government agencies and distribution licensees of special economic zones (SEZs) could soon get coal linkages. The government proposes to dilute a key condition in the fuel supply agreement (FSA) enabling these contracts to qualify for coal supply.

As per the existing FSA finalised by Coal India (CIL), power projects get fuel linkages only if they have tied up 60% of their generation capacity under long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with distribution companies.

Tata Steel, the anchor tenant for the industrial park being developed on 3,500 acres of land at Gopalpur, has sought extension of the in-principle approval granted for the park, which is set to be notified as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

“The registration of land lease for the Gopalpur industrial park is yet to be done. In the absence of registration, application cannot be made to the Union ministry of commerce for notification of the park as an SEZ. Tata Steel has asked the state government to extend the date for in-principle approval beyond June 17 this year,” an industries department official told Business Standard.

Requirements on minimum size, contiguity and vacant stretches to be eased MAT and DDT to stay

The ministry of commerce and industry would soon announce relaxed land-related norms for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to arrest the slackening pace of growth in these tax-free zones by making certain changes in the SEZ policy. In a major amendment to the policy, enacted in 2006, for the first time the government will change the minimum land requirement across all sectors.

The Association of Biotech Led Enterprises(ABLE), the voice of the biotechnology industry in India, has urged for a series of reforms to propel the sector in the next phase of its growth.

The important one among them includes the ones pertaining to finance — upto Rs 5,000 crore biomanufacturing fund for soft loans at 4-6 per cent with a two-year moratorium and five-year tax holiday from date of commercialisation; larger SEZs specifically meant for biologics, including biotech drugs under the ‘free medicines scheme’ being contemplated by the Government of India;

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development, headed by BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan, on Thursday tabled its report on the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 (L