Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh will meet the Bengal chief minister in Calcutta tomorrow and inform her about the provisions of the redrafted bill, which the Union cabinet is to take up on Monday.
Mamata has been advocating the creation of a land bank that would specify areas of unutilised land that could be used for industry and other purposes.
Trinamul MP and land expert Debabrata Bandopadhyay had submitted a note on the proposed National Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, stressing the need for the provision.
“The demand for creation of a land bank has been incorporated in the bill,” a senior ministry source said.
“The redrafted bill says that if a plot of land acquired for a certain purpose remains unutilised for 10 years, it would go to the land bank, which is to be maintained by the state government. That land could be used for industry or any other purpose that the state government deems fit.”
The original bill said unutilised land would be returned to farmers five years after acquisition.