Cabinet decisions

The cabinet gave a ringing endorsement to a ministerial committee to fast-track projects worth more than Rs 1,000 crore, while also clearing a bill making the consent of 80% of land owners mandatory for purchase of land for private projects.
The cabinet committee on investment aimed at injecting fresh momentum into the economy, received the overwhelming backing of all ministers at Thursday’s meeting.
The land acquisition bill is a key UPA initiative that sets a benchmark for rates of land acquired in urban and rural areas, and its tough provisions on consent of land holders have been retained on the insistence of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
A cabinet note upped the quantum of consent for land acquisition from 67% suggested by the group of ministers, a move that is not likely to please the industry.
The land acquisition bill, if passed, may raise concerns about longer deadlines. Raising the consent for land acquisition has caused worry among industry leaders, who also concerned about the consequences for competitiveness of Indian business. For PPP projects, 70% consent will be required. While the land acquisition bill, if passed, may raise apprehensions of longer project deadlines, the cabinet also approved a committee that will shorten red tape and look to frame timelines for administrative and regulatory clearances.
In view of objections raised by some ministers, the cabinet decided to designate the new panel as Cabinet Committee on Investment rather than the more high-sounding National Investment Board. The CCI will subsume the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
Apprehensions of some ministers that powers of their departments will be curtailed by the new entity failed to find support. It was felt that the CCI could, in fact, facilitate more efficient and transparent processing of project proposals. Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath reportedly made the point that officials will work more efficiently under the new set-up.
Most ministers gave CCI a thumbs-up and environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan—whose ministry had detailed objections to the NIB proposal—did not press her dissent. She is believed to be of the view that a cabinet committee headed by the PM is a doable proposition rather than an NIB.

The Union Cabinet also allowed a 30% reduction in the base price for spectrum in four circles—Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka and Rajasthan—where airwaves could not be sold and gave a green light to the next round of bidding.
The twin moves had been approved by the empowered group of ministers headed by finance minister P Chidambaram. Following the Cabinet nod, the government will have a fresh round of auction for spectrum in the 1800 MHz frequency band in the four circles where no telecom company participated in the bidding last month, citing high price of the scare resource.