Opposing the land acquisition bill proposed by the Centre, the state cabinet on Wednesday decided to review it thoroughly before arriving at any view that has to be submitted to the Union government.
The state plans to appoint a sub-committee of senior ministers to study the provisions in the proposed bill.
According to the primary report prepared by the industries department, the cost of the ongoing projects is expected to increase four times. The state has also arrived at the conclusion that the provisions in the bill are unrealistic, and next-to-impossible to implement.
"The bill has proposed the exchanging of land against the land acquired for any project. It has also made mandatory the returning of one acre of land to the landholders if the land is acquired for the irrigation project. Secondly, the consent of 80% of the families affected by any project is not a practical provision," said a senior Congress minister.
He said that although the names of ministers on the committee are not finalised, there would be at least 10 from both the ruling parties.
The primary report discussed in the cabinet has opposed the exchange of land to the affected families. It states that since land availability is diminishing rapidly, the provision cannot be accepted.
According to the report, if the compensation has to be distributed as per the proposed bill, the cost of the Shai Water Project in Thane would go up to Rs784.09 crore from the existing Rs197.96 crore, and the Goshikhurd Irrigation Project would cost Rs53.64 crore as opposed to the existing Rs15.74 crore. Likewise, the Paras Thermal Project may turn up too costly at Rs31.77 crore, nearly four times the estimated current cost of Rs8.57 crore.
The cabinet was of the opinion that the cost of the compensation for the projects would be much more than the profits estimated from them.
