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Govt creating ‘land bank’ of 100,000 acres.

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http://bangladeshchronicle.net/2016/11/govt-creating-land-bank-of-100000-acres/
Govt creating ‘land bank’ of 100,000 acres
November 3, 2016 | Filed under: Economy | Posted by: bdchronicle



The government is creating a ‘land bank’ of 100,000 acres to help domestic and foreign investors set up their factories without any hassle in Bangladesh, said Abul Kalam Azad, principal secretary to the prime minister, yesterday.


The 100,000 acres would include the special economic zones that the government plans to set up.


The land application law will be amended in two to three months to give land owners more compensation than they currently get, he said at a programme organised by the Public Private Partnership Authority at the capital’s Sonargaon Hotel.

The PPP Authority signed preliminary agreements with 14 lenders on PPP financing partnership.

As per the agreements, the PPP Authority will send tender documents to the 14 banks and non-bank financial institutions before awarding the contracts so that lenders can analyse whether the projects will be financially viable for them.

Land is a big problem in Bangladesh, so the government has decided to amend the land application law, Azad said. The proposal is likely to be placed before the cabinet next week.

“The amended law will ensure higher compensation and less hassle and complexities,” said Azad, who is also the chairman of PPP Authority.


Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority is working to build 77 zones over the next 10 to 15 years.


Initial estimates suggest 50,000-70,000 acres will be required for the economic zones, of which, 20,000-25,000 acres have already come under the government’s control, he said.

“Nearly one lakh acres of land will be brought under this land bank to reduce the hassles and complexities of investors.”

Investors will get all services, be it electricity, gas, tax issues, at the zones, he said.


China has been granted 700 acres of land and the allocation of this land has already been completed, he said.


Special economic zones are being developed on a fast-track basis, Azad said, adding that the government also plans to form a separate authority to handle the skills issue of manpower.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith, who spoke on the occasion as chief guest, said the government is now getting lots of investment proposals from foreign investors and some of the proposals are big ones.

“One such big foreign investment proposal is the construction of Dhaka-Payra rail line,” he said. Anis A Khan, chairman of the Association of Bankers Bangladesh and managing director of Mutual Trust Bank, said the programme will create awareness about PPP among the lenders.

He, however, said lots of development projects are being implemented, so there must be discipline in the works as well.

Khan also requested the government to give incentives to investors of PPP projects so that they are encouraged to come up with their investments. Earlier, Afsor H Uddin, chief executive officer of the PPP Authority, presented an overview of the PPP programmes in Bangladesh.

He said the authority has principally given approval to 44 PPP projects worth $14 billion. Contracts have been signed for eight projects worth $1.5 billion.

Eunusur Rahman, secretary of the banking and financial institutions division, also spoke.

Source: The
 
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There should be provisions for sector based land banks to promote the diversification of the industries... Large contiguous industrial plots should be developed for like automotive/automobile, shipbuilding and other heavy industries ...
 
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What is average price of agricultural land per acre in Bangladesh?

And do government provide market value to farmers while acquisition of land?


Don't know about price of land...

Industrial zones do not usually crop up over agricultural land as a matter of principal . They are usually semi urban, urban and non agricultural land repurposed. Govt usually provides market value but rarely do the sellers who are subject to compulsory purchase orders happy with the price.
 
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Govt usually provides market value but rarely do the sellers who are subject to compulsory purchase orders happy with the price.

Land acquisition system in BD is fully corrupt foremost of which is non-payment, partial payment by the corrupt officials. The payment system should be such that a govt. agency is not allowed to take over a plot of land before actually making payment to its owner.

The Ministry of land has already placed a system in place whereby the value of land in a certain zone has been fixed at a rate much higher than the real selling price. So, whatever may be the actual selling price of a land, the govt imposes a rate of 9% sales tax determined by this land value.

Therefore, the compensation value by which a piece of land is acquired by the govt. should be at or above this already decided unit value.
 
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What is average price of agricultural land per acre in Bangladesh?

And do government provide market value to farmers while acquisition of land?


Rules of the thumb is that govt will provide 1.5 times the highest price which was transacted within this area in the last one year. For instance if the most expensive land which was sold and register for 100 taka in the last one year in that area then govt will compensate any land within that area for 150 taka.

The problem is nobody register the land with actual price to dodge the government taxes and the actual paper value is like 10-30% of the market value. So when government acquire a land they cant adequately compensate the land owner due to existing law. Situation is little better in the urban areas where you cant register a land below a certain amount yet it is always lower than the market value.

I remember we had a piece of land acquired and the compensation value came around 30 lacs but actual value of the land was 3 crore. We had to lobby to entirely scrap the project unless we would had been ripped off.

The market value of per acre agricultural land is around 15-20 lac which are sold for agricultural purspose.
But in the industrial belt the agricultural land which were sold to convert into industrial land are sold for around 1.5 to 2 crore. But these prices vary substantially from district to district and the distance from the major cities.

There should be provisions for sector based land banks to promote the diversification of the industries... Large contiguous industrial plots should be developed for like automotive/automobile, shipbuilding and other heavy industries ...

No need to introduce extra layer of bureaucracy. Let the market decide what people will use the land for unless it is an environmental issue like having a ETP.
 
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The problem is nobody register the land with actual price to dodge the government taxes and the actual paper value is like 10-30% of the market value. So when government acquire a land they cant adequately compensate the land owner due to existing law.

Sorry, you have provided mistaken information. Please learn from those who have experience in selling and buying land in rural areas. I stick to the information I have given in post #7. It is the reality now.
 
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Sorry, you have provided mistaken information. Please learn from those who have experience in selling and buying land in rural areas. I stick to the information I have given in post #7. It is the reality now.

You are correct, govt recently introduced a system where you cant register the land below certain amount which was introduced in last 5 years and as far as I know only limited to urban and semi urban areas. Even though the price does not get updated frequently. All the time it is far below market price. We been through this and I know very well. :)
 
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Actually you are correct.
I myself registered a piece of land (0.74 acre) worth 10 lacs taka, while actual value was 84 lacs taka.
This is mainly due to avoid dual taxation...in one hand tax on the values of the land, on the other hand tax for the source of income( personal income tax).
You are correct, govt recently introduced a system where you cant register the land below certain amount which was introduced in last 5 years and as far as I know only limited to urban and semi urban areas. Even though the price does not get updated frequently. All the time it is far below market price. We been through this and I know very well. :)
 
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No need to introduce extra layer of bureaucracy. Let the market decide what people will use the land for unless it is an environmental issue like having a ETP.

Well, it will help to diversify the industrial capacity which we badly need. Land requirements are not same for every industry in terms of area, geography or terrain. For example, coastal areas are good for heavy industries like automobile, shipbuilding, steel, petrochemicals etc. If the industrial plots in the coastal belt are filled with light engineering industries, we will miss out on the opportunity to expand our heavy industrial capacity and move up the value chain, ultimately restricting our growth in the longer run...
 
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