Modi faces opposition from farmers to land reforms

New Delhi

INDIAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought on Sunday to stave off farmer protests against his efforts to make it easier for businesses to buy land, after opposition to the bill overshadowed a burst of progress on economic reform.

Tussles over land acquisition have locked up hundreds of billions of dollars of infrastructure developments, and looser rules are important for Mr Modi's vision of building modern cities and industrial corridors crisscrossing India.

But opposition parties have successfully portrayed proposed changes to a land purchase act, including exemption from getting consent of 80 per cent of landowners for some projects, as anti-farmer - a damaging charge in a count…