Mumbai: The Maharashtra state cabinet has delegated powers to acquire land of any government department for public projects to the district collector. It will save time to complete the project as well as control to escalate cost of the project.
In a cabinet meeting chaired by CM Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday, the proposal to hand over the power to acquire land to the collector was approved unanimously. According to an official from Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), it has been observed that in several cases, projects such as Metro and Mono railway, water supply schemes have been delayed due to land acquisition despite it being in possession of government.
“The Samruddhi Corridor, the widening of Goa National Highway, development of new ports and expansion of airports in Amravati and in Karad have been delayed due to delays in land acquisition. These are in fact lands owned by the forest, Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation and other departments,” said the official.
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Thursday 09 Jan. 2025
“Even the state is facing such hurdles in development of tourist spots under tourism policy and small or medium irrigation projects,” he said.
According to the cabinet decision, any department that requires land from another department for a project must get approval from the cabinet or sub-committee to hand over rights of the land.
The decision stated, the department will have to pay occupation charges to the concerned department. Even if the cabinet approves, the ownership of such land will be transferred to a third-party institution. The cabinet has clarified that the decision will not be applicable to projects run by Non-Government Organisations (NGO) or private trusts registered under charity commissioner.
