In the first direct blow to his ambitious economic reform agenda, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has had to row back on a business-friendly land bill amid fierce parliamentary opposition.
The government has not given up on making it easier to acquire land needed to kick-start hundreds of billions of dollars in stalled projects, but after failing to win support in parliament may ask states to pass their own laws.
“We realise that currently we don’t have the numbers to pass it,” a leader in Modi’s ruling party said.
“By reducing the heat on this we will be able to get other things passed.”
After sweeping to power last year on expectations he would accelerate an economic transformation that began in the 1990s, Modi is struggling to build support in parliament, where his party is in the minority in the upper house.
Having staked so much capital on an unpopular issue, Modi risks losing the initiative to the opposition and fuelling perceptions that his reform plans are not necessarily going to improve the lot of India’s 1.27 billion people.
“This is a huge setback for Modi,” said Sanjay Kumar, an analyst at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.
“This is an indication that, if bills are controversial, this government is going to find it very difficult to pass them.”
In the next sitting of parliament due to start Tuesday, the government wants to ease the passage of the biggest overhaul of taxes since independence in 1947, and may also introduce the first major labour reforms in decades.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will have to fend off opposition attacks in the rowdy houses over allegations of corruption, and does not want to rile opponents further over the land law.
Land reform is critical for Modi’s drive to build new roads, homes and factories and, if stalled, would blight his vision of 100 new “smart” cities across India linked by industrial corridors and high-speed rail routes criss-crossing the country.
Opposition parties have joined forces to portray the proposed changes to the land act, including exemption from getting consent of 80% of landowners for some projects, as anti-farmer, a damaging charge in a mostly rural country.
On Wednesday, opposition leaders boycotted Modi’s latest attempt to build consensus on the issue.
“I hope reality dawns on them. The whole country is against this bill,” said Congress Party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia. — Reuters
Land bill backpedals in India
The government has not given up on making it easier to acquire land needed to kick-start hundreds of billions of dollars in stalled projects, but after failing to win support in parliament may ask states to pass their own laws.
“We realise that currently we don’t have the numbers to pass it,” a leader in Modi’s ruling party said.
“By reducing the heat on this we will be able to get other things passed.”
After sweeping to power last year on expectations he would accelerate an economic transformation that began in the 1990s, Modi is struggling to build support in parliament, where his party is in the minority in the upper house.
Having staked so much capital on an unpopular issue, Modi risks losing the initiative to the opposition and fuelling perceptions that his reform plans are not necessarily going to improve the lot of India’s 1.27 billion people.
“This is a huge setback for Modi,” said Sanjay Kumar, an analyst at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.
“This is an indication that, if bills are controversial, this government is going to find it very difficult to pass them.”
In the next sitting of parliament due to start Tuesday, the government wants to ease the passage of the biggest overhaul of taxes since independence in 1947, and may also introduce the first major labour reforms in decades.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will have to fend off opposition attacks in the rowdy houses over allegations of corruption, and does not want to rile opponents further over the land law.
Land reform is critical for Modi’s drive to build new roads, homes and factories and, if stalled, would blight his vision of 100 new “smart” cities across India linked by industrial corridors and high-speed rail routes criss-crossing the country.
Opposition parties have joined forces to portray the proposed changes to the land act, including exemption from getting consent of 80% of landowners for some projects, as anti-farmer, a damaging charge in a mostly rural country.
On Wednesday, opposition leaders boycotted Modi’s latest attempt to build consensus on the issue.
“I hope reality dawns on them. The whole country is against this bill,” said Congress Party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia. — Reuters
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