Title - PM relaxes land transfer norms to speed up infra projects

New Delhi: Apparently unhappy over delays in infrastructure projects on account of procedures, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday relaxed norms for transfer of government land to any other entity to remove bottlenecks and speed up public-private partnership (PPP) projects.According to the Prime Minister's decision which marks lifting of a ban imposed last year, all cases of land transfer from ministries to statutory authorities or public sector undertakings (PSUs) will be allowed, subject to the requirements of normal Government of India rules.The decision will do away with the requirement of Cabinet approvals which was leading to long delays in awarding concessions for infrastructure projects, particularly PPP ones in sectors like road, railways, civil aviation, ports and metro rail."Requiring Cabinet approval for each PPP project meant adding a few months to complete the processes for securing Cabinet approval," a PMO statement said."The Prime Minister approved relaxations in the land transfer policy of the government for government-owned lands so that infrastructure projects are not held up because of procedural delays," it said.The decision to relax norms would speed up the award of PPP projects from this month onwards significantly, it said.Among the categories for which the ban has been relaxed are all cases of land transfer on lease or rent or license to a concessionaire which have been appraised through the PPP Approval Committee route and approved by the Finance Minister or by the Ministers concerned or by the Cabinet, as the case may be, depending upon the value of the project.

Development and use of railway land by Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) as per provisions of Railways Amendment Act, 2005 and the Rules framed thereunder and in accordance with the prevalent policies and guidelines of the Railway Ministry and the Government will also be covered by the new decision.

Early last year, a ban had been imposed on all transfer of government owned land to any entity except in cases where land was to be transferred from one government department to another, the PMO statement said.

The Department of Economic Affairs was to prepare a comprehensive land transfer policy for government owned land. In case any department had to implement a project which required alienation of land either through lease, license or rent, it had to seek specific approval of the Cabinet.

This was leading to long delays in awarding concessions for infrastructure projects, particularly PPP projects, the statement said.

All PPP infrastructure projects - roads, railways, ports, civil aviation and metros - have some element of land alienation as the projects are often built on government owned land.

The government continues to own the land which is leased or licensed out.