Lucknow, June 28 (KNN) Making a move towards ease of doing business environment in the country, Uttar Pradesh Government has simplified the land acquisition process to set up industries. The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Wednesday allowed acquisition of gram sabha land according to prevailing circle rates and not 4 times the rate as prescribed under the Land Acquisition Act of 2015.

Welcoming this move, President of Indian Industries Association (IIA), Sunil Vaish told KNN India that this move will help in land allotment for MSMEs.

Now, they can buy the land at lower prices and start their own units, he added

He said, “From past one and a half years we already had been demanding small industrial lands for the MSMEs at affordable rates as firms find it difficult to set up units at 4 times circle rate. It is non-sustainable for industries.”

IIA President lauded the cabinet's move and said “We all appreciate this initiative taken by the government as this will help MSME units in acquiring land at affordable prices.”

The decision was taken at the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Aadityanath here on Wednesday.

Briefing the media after the meet, UP's Health Minister and Government Spokesperson Sidharth Nath Singh said the decision was taken to make the ‘gram sabha’ land available for development projects.

He informed, “The industry had been facing problems in executing projects owing to the existing norms of paying 4 times compensation. Besides, it was also deemed impractical and unviable. As such, the cabinet decided to revert to the land acquisition policy of prior to 2015 for ‘gram sabha’ land.”

However, the norms stand unchanged with regards to the private land.

In UP, total ‘gram sabha’ land runs into hundreds of thousands of hectares spread across more than 100,000 revenue villages. For acquiring such land, the concessionaire or the developer has to approach the respective district magistrate (DM), who then initiates the process after due diligence and necessary legal formalities.