The West Bengal government on Monday announced that it would ‘re-examine’ the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976, with Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta describing the legislation as a major bottleneck to attracting large-scale investments in the state.
Presenting the state budget in the Assembly, Dasgupta said West Bengal remains the only major state in the country where the Act’s provisions continue to be in force, hampering large-scale industrial and infrastructure projects.
“I hereby announce that the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976, will be re-examined to unlock the potential of developable land, attract investments and fuel economic growth,” the minister said.
The announcement assumes significance as industry bodies and investors have long argued that restrictions on urban land holdings limit the availability of large contiguous land parcels required for industrial, commercial and infrastructure projects.
The Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act was enacted by the Centre in 1976 to prevent concentration of urban land in the hands of a few and to promote equitable distribution of land in urban areas. The law imposed ceilings on urban land holdings and empowered governments to acquire excess land.
However, the Centre repealed the Act through the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Repeal Act, 1999, allowing states to adopt the repeal. Most states subsequently scrapped the legislation, arguing that it had constrained urban development and investments.
Industry circles in West Bengal have repeatedly sought the repeal or relaxation of the law, contending that it has complicated land aggregation for major projects and adversely affected the state’s competitiveness in attracting investments compared with other states.
In another announcement, Dasgupta said several state-run institutions were on the verge of closure due to a variety of operational and financial challenges. The government proposed to extend support to such entities to help revive and sustain their functioning, he said.
The move to revisit the land ceiling law is expected to form part of the BJP government’s broader agenda of fiscal and structural reforms aimed at accelerating industrialisation and economic growth in the state.
