Maha Cabinet clears interest rate of 1 pc above repo rate for delay in compensation for land acquisition

Mumbai, April 15 (IANS) The Maharashtra Cabinet, chaired by the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Tuesday, had approved an interest rate of 1 per cent above the repo rate in the case of delay in the payment of compensation for land acquisition.

As per the government release, the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency Act, 2013 has been passed for land acquisition for various public, government and semi-government projects.

The land acquisition under the provisions of this Act provides for fair compensation and rehabilitation and resettlement of the land owners. This has led to a significant reduction in the level of opposition.

The Act provides for the payment of interest at the rate of 12 per cent as per Section 30(3) and nine per cent and 15 percent as per Section 72 and Section 80, in case of delay in payment of land acquisition compensation to the land owners. However, this used to burden the government exchequer and increase the original cost of the projects.

“Now, by changing this interest rate, if there is a delay in paying the land acquisition compensation, interest will be paid on that amount at a single rate. This rate will be one percent more than the repo rate. A bill in this regard will be introduced in the legislature,” said the release.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet also approved the commencement of three new engineering degree courses from the academic year 2025-25 at Puranmal Lahoti Government Technical Institute in Latur. The decision was also taken to rename Puranmal Lahoti Government Technical Institute as Puranmal Lahoti Government Institute of Engineering and Technology, Latur.

Three new courses, namely Nuclear Power and Telecommunication Engineering, Computer Engineering and Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, will be started at Puranmal Lahoti Government Technical Institute. The admission capacity for each of these courses will be 60.

The Cabinet has approved the creation and recruitment of 36 new teaching posts and 31 non-teaching posts to start these new courses.

The Cabinet also approved the provision for expenditure worth Rs 26.61 crore for the next four years on the salaries of these posts and books, furniture, computers and equipment.

--IANS

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