Land Bill is not anti-farmer, says CII president Sumit Mazumder

Stressing that the Land Bill is not anti-farmer, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Wednesday said the Bill should be supported and passed in Parliament.

"If land is needed for highway, it is good for the country and you are offering four times of the market price. The land will be used for national interest and not for a private factory," newly-elected CII president Sumit Mazumder told reporters in Kolkata.

"The Land Bill should be passed. Definitely it should be supported," he said wondering "It is difficult to say what will happen to the Bill, but what the Modi government is doing is not anti-farmer."

CII (Eastern chapter) chairman AK Verma said the industry body has not formally discussed the land and SEZ issue with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

On the Land Ceiling Act in the state, the CII president supported scrapping of the Act and supported Banerjee's call for a national iron-ore policy for growth of iron-ore and steel projects in the state.

Mazumder also hoped that GST would be implemented as there had been lot of progress on the issue.

CII officials said the industry body was acting as a facilitator between the West Bengal government and a Singapore University on signing an MoU on easing business relations.