Question : LAND UTILISATION

(a) the details of the land acquired and given for industrial use during each of the last three years and the current year, State/ UT-wise;

(b) whether there is a provision to return the allotted land lying unused for a certain period, if so, the details thereof and the details of the unused land returned by the State/Union Territories during the said period;

(c) whether the land acquired by the Government has been lying unused for more than 18 months, if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor, State/UT-wise along with the follow up action taken thereon; and

(d) the percentage of the above mentioned unused land due to pending projects of the public sector undertakings in each State/UT of the country at present?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI SUDARSPIAN BHAGAT)

(a) to (d). Land and its management falls under the exclusive legislative and administrative jurisdiction of the States as provided in Entry No. 18 of List 11 (State List) of the Seventh Schedule of -he Constitution of India. Thus, a central and systemic record of land provided for industrial use by the States and the land remaining unutilized thereof is not maintained by die Central Government. Under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 there was no provision to return the unutilized land. The Act has now been repealed and The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 came into effect from 0 .01.2014. Section 101 of the aforesaid Act, 2013 provides that “When any land acquired under this Act remains unutilised for a period specified for setting up of any project or for five years, whichever is later from the date of taking over the possession, the same shall be returned to the original owner or owners or their legal heirs, as the case may be, or to the Land Bank of the appropriate Government by reversion in the manner as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government.

Explanation:- for the purpose of this section, Land Bank` means a governmental entity that focuses on the conversion of Government owned vacant, abandoned, unutilised acquired lands and tax-delinquent properties into productive use.