By IANS
Bangalore : Karnataka is wooing farmers to part with their land for industrialisation by offering to return to them a part of the area they surrender after developing it fully, officials said Wednesday.
For every acre of farm land surrendered to the government, a farmer will get back around 10,000 sq ft of developed area which he can use for commercial or residential purposes or sell it off.
A government spokesperson said this works out to 20 percent of an acre and the revenue a farmer can get from utilising it himself or selling it off will be much more than what he would get by selling an acre of farm land.
The state cabinet approved the proposal Monday hoping that the offer would induce farmers to give up farmland and avoid litigation over acquisition or compensation amount.
The cabinet has also decided to allow private companies to develop special economic zones (SEZs) on 100 acres and above. The government will not acquire land for SEZs and promoters will have to deal directly with the farmers.
"Many investors have been hesitant to come to Karnataka because of the fear that the land acquisition process will be long-drawn and the distinct possibility of the issue going to the courts," the spokesman said.
The opposition Congress party, meanwhile, organised a rally of farmers Tuesday at Nandagudi, about 40 km from here, protesting against the move to set up an SEZ in the area.
The SEZ is scheduled to come up on 12,500 acres of land spread over 36 villages in the area. The SEZ promoted by Mumbai-based SKIL Infrastructure Ltd. has got in-principle approval from the union government.
The multi-product SEZ is expected to attract an investment of Rs.150 billion.
However, the state Congress unit claims that the union government approved the SEZ project because the state government had not provided it with all the information such as that most of the land that will be acquired is fertile farmland.
SKIL Infrastructure Ltd chief executive officer J.P. Rai has said his company is working on a compensation package for farmers and the land acquisition process will start in about six months time.
"There will be a variety of compensation to suit the farmers' needs and the farmers are free to choose from it," he said.