India approves emergency orders to ease land acquisition rules

New Delhi

THE Indian government passed an ordinance - an urgent executive order - on Monday to ease land acquisition rules in sectors like power, housing and defence to kick-start hundreds of billions of dollars in stalled projects, although investments are unlikely to flow in immediately.

Restrictions on buying land, under a law championed by the last Congress government, are among barriers holding up projects worth almost US$300 billion. Several states had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to overhaul the law enacted in January this year.