Date: 27/08/2022

Relevance: GS-3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc. Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment, Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment

Key Phrases: Land acquisition, Digitization of land records, Challenges and problems in land acquisition, Renewable energy projects, Solar Park Scheme.

Background:

• Land acquisition for large developmental projects in developing nations is a big challenge and similarly acquiring land remains a significant barrier that frequently causes delays in the successful completion of renewable energy projects in India.
• The agrarian nature of the Indian economy also increases difficulty as Land purchase in India is hindered by issues such as the loss of livelihoods, compensation provided during the acquisition process, and socio-cultural norms of land ownership.
• According to a report named Renewable Energy and Land Use in India by Mid-Century released by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) about 50,000-75,000 square kilometers of land will be used in 2050 for solar energy generation and for an additional 15,000-20,000 sq. km for wind energy projects.

Inefficient maintenance of land records : The Challenge to Ownership claims

• Land ownership in India is determined by government survey records, registered sale deeds, and property tax records and any ambiguity leads to legal complexities thus leading to delays in renewable projects.
• Gaps in the legal system and inadequate administration of land records frequently result in legal conflicts regarding ownership.
• Land records are kept by several departments at the district or village level and contain a variety of information including prior transactions and such data is neither properly held nor updated.
• Accessing land records is a cumbersome task as the data is held by several departments and there is lack of coordination among different departments.
• To check ownership claims years of paperwork needs to be located all this leads to inefficiencies and delays.

Lack of a formal policy in key states : Underutilization of renewable potential

• There are no explicit land allocation policies in place in most of the key states.
• States such as Rajasthan which has 85,000 square kilometers of wasteland, largely desert and arid areas, Jammu & Kashmir which has about 75,000 sq. km of wasteland, primarily hills and has no grid connectivity have huge potential for renewable energy.
• The Central Government should exploit land availability in these regions by deploying suitable land allocation regulations, in order to capitalize on the enormous opportunity for solar and wind.
• Although four states, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, have formulated suitable policies for government land allocation in terms of renewable projects, the others still suffer on this account.

Delay in government land allotment under Solar Park Scheme for ISTS projects:

• The Government’s push to implement interstate transmission system (ISTS) projects using solar power parks has suffered a great setback.
• Prior to auctioning solar park projects, it’s crucial to finish the necessary land purchase requirements
• But there have been multiple instances where the government has conducted auctions of solar park projects without taking all the necessary land acquisition procedures.
• This causes delays for developers because even after the project allocation, the necessary infrastructure is not ready for them to begin developing the project.

Lack of digitization of land records:

• Digital land records can reduce the likelihood of property conflicts, and result in more open land records.
• Thus there is a need to digitize land records to keep pace with technological developments.
• A recent study of 100 land parcels scattered over five villages and two tehsils revealed that newly computerized land records accurately reflected land ownership.
• Thus clear land titles can provide solutions to a host of problems such as
  • Poor households can receive credit from formal financial institutions
  • It can also reduce the need to acquire commercial land for infrastructure projects.

Obtaining environmental and local clearances:

• There are a set of legal procedures that must be followed in order to gain access to land for a particular solar project or wind project.
• The clearances needed to avoid any of the following :
  • Numerous environmental clearances by means Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)
  • Clearances of disputed and regulator managed assets
  • Wildlife and other related clearances
  • Clearances in case of legal titles, ceiling limit, government land allotment.
  • State rules on the sale of ancestral property, khatedari rights, and many others.
• But there is an ever existing dispute between the land seekers and the conversationalists which makes the land acquisition difficult.

Way forward:

• Coordination between the centre and state Governments: Land is a state subject and thus adequate cooperation is demanded between the two governments for the evaluation and publishing of tenders.
• Time bound deadlines should be there to match the anticipated due date with the actual situation.
• Digitization of land records is a critical step toward streamlining and accelerating the land allocation process for efficient and timely approval.
• Establishing a National database of available land parcels of various public assets will help in quick approvals.
• There is a need to modify approval processes by means of reducing the number of approvals or involvement of fewer agencies to speed up the approvals and permissions process.
• The present government has taken many initiatives to simplify approval and procedural aspects in various fields such as FDI reforms, GST, Tax reforms etc. which need to be continued. At the same time there is a need to preserve the environment and agrarian nature of the Indian economy to establish a sync between development and nature.

Source: The Hindu BL

Mains Question:

Q. Despite the huge potential for renewable resources India’s renewable energy sector is plagued with many challenges, Discuss. Also, suggest ways to overcome these challenges? (250 words).