Survey for setting up National Forest Land Bank

New Delhi, Feb 25 (PTI) The Indian Economic Survey Friday
made a case for streamlining land acquisition and
environmental clearance policy to encourage development of
infrastructure projects and called for setting up of a
"National Forest Land Bank" in this regard.
Amid increasing problems faced in acquiring forest lands
for commercial purposes, the Survey for 2010-11 tabled in
Parliament said there should be parity in the compensation
package paid.
It said there was an "urgent need to streamline land
acquisition and environment clearance for infrastructure
projects."
The survey called for bringing parity between the
compensation package admissible under the Land Acquisition
Act, 1894 and that applicable to land acquisition under the
National Highways Act, 1956.
It said a National Forest Land Bank would help in
reducing approval time for forest clearance.
The reformist agenda of the Economic Survey comes close
on the heels of the address of the President Pratibha Patil.
The President had earlier this week stressed on the
needs to work on reform-friendly policies to attract increased
overseas investment in the country, amid a decline in overseas
inflows.
"We have to strive to make the domestic environment more
conducive to investment, encouraging public as well as private
investment and domestic as well as foreign investment,
particularly foreign direct investment," Patil said in her
address to Parliament.
The Survey also stressed on the need for encouraging
increased investments in infrastructure and private sector
participation.
"Need to explore avenues for increasing investment in
infrastructure.. PPPs and occasionally exclusive private
investment wherever possible," the Survey said.
As India plans to increase its infrastructure spending in
the 12th Plan (2012-17) to USD 1 trillion, the Survey
recommended, "huge capacity addition in infrastructure in a
time- bound manner."
Recognising the fact that prices continue to be high, the
Survey has underlined the need to "monitor emerging trends in
inflation" on a monthly basis while suggesting that the
government should improve delivery mechanism by strengthening
the situation and addressing "corruption."
The 456-page report said inflation is expected to be
higher than "what would be if the country was not on the
growth curve."
About the growth projections, the document said that with
good monsoons, the agriculture sector is expected to grow by
5.4 per cent during the current financial year up from a
lowly 0.4 per cent in the fiscal 2009-10.
"Rise in food inflation and the critical role of
agriculture underlines the need for larger investments in the
agriculture sector enroute to the second green revolution," it
said.
In its endeavour to achieve higher economic growth, the
government should pursue a reform agenda which include over a
dozen steps including streamlining land acquisition and faster
environmental clearance for infrastructure projects.
The Survey called for an early introduction of the Goods
and Service Tax (GST).
It underlined the need for private sector participation in
social sectors such as health and education in the form of
'public-social-private' partnership for supplementing the
government efforts.
In the backdrop of difficulties in land acquisition, the
Survey, which is considered as report card of the government
along a paper prescribing policies to be pursued, suggested
formation of a National Forest Land Bank.
This land bank will have clear titles to reduce approval
time for forest go ahead.
It said that focus of the government's flagship programme
'Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme'
should be shifted to permanent asset building and
infrastructure development.