The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has pitched for the creation of a unified national industrial land bank with a computer-backed facility to offer real-time information to investors and expedite land acquisition for companies to spur manufacturing.
This geographic information system (GIS)-enabled land bank would provide a wide spectrum of inputs, including on land availability, zoning status, utilities, environmental constraints, encumbrances and title clarity, it said.
A report prepared by the industry body has suggested standardised social impact assessment templates, expeditious industrial acquisition cells at the district level, broader adoption of land pooling models, and the creation of a publicly accessible GIS-linked land dispute registry.
“These reforms would help reduce timelines (for land acquisition), improve transparency, and build trust among landowners, communities, and investors,” it said.
The report has also pushed for a uniform, nationally-guided stamp duty for industrial land, highlighting the wide inter-state variations in stamp duty and registration charges that inflate upfront project costs and distort investment decisions across geographies. Investment location choices should be driven by economic fundamentals rather than regulatory arbitrage, it said.
To address legal uncertainty and litigation risks, the industry body has recommended nationwide digitisation of land records, GIS-linked cadastral mapping, survey-level authentication prior to allotment, and the introduction of title insurance for large industrial parcels.
Land acquisition generally takes a minimum of 18 to 24 months, though in complex cases involving disputes, the timeline can extend beyond three years, it said.
The CII also pitched for an integrated digital single-window system for industrial land applications. This system would consolidate approvals across departments, standardise documentation, allow real-time tracking, and introduce clear service-level agreements, including deemed approvals for non-sensitive clearances.
“The challenge in industrial land is not only acquisition, but readiness and utilisation. Even after allotment, projects get stuck due to possession issues, infrastructure gaps, unclear titles, and prolonged downstream approvals,” said TV Narendran, the CII’s past president and current chairman of its Land Mission.
This geographic information system (GIS)-enabled land bank would provide a wide spectrum of inputs, including on land availability, zoning status, utilities, environmental constraints, encumbrances and title clarity, it said.
A report prepared by the industry body has suggested standardised social impact assessment templates, expeditious industrial acquisition cells at the district level, broader adoption of land pooling models, and the creation of a publicly accessible GIS-linked land dispute registry.
“These reforms would help reduce timelines (for land acquisition), improve transparency, and build trust among landowners, communities, and investors,” it said.
The report has also pushed for a uniform, nationally-guided stamp duty for industrial land, highlighting the wide inter-state variations in stamp duty and registration charges that inflate upfront project costs and distort investment decisions across geographies. Investment location choices should be driven by economic fundamentals rather than regulatory arbitrage, it said.
To address legal uncertainty and litigation risks, the industry body has recommended nationwide digitisation of land records, GIS-linked cadastral mapping, survey-level authentication prior to allotment, and the introduction of title insurance for large industrial parcels.
Land acquisition generally takes a minimum of 18 to 24 months, though in complex cases involving disputes, the timeline can extend beyond three years, it said.
The CII also pitched for an integrated digital single-window system for industrial land applications. This system would consolidate approvals across departments, standardise documentation, allow real-time tracking, and introduce clear service-level agreements, including deemed approvals for non-sensitive clearances.
“The challenge in industrial land is not only acquisition, but readiness and utilisation. Even after allotment, projects get stuck due to possession issues, infrastructure gaps, unclear titles, and prolonged downstream approvals,” said TV Narendran, the CII’s past president and current chairman of its Land Mission.
