Question

Assume you are a senior Engineer in a Ghanain private multi-disciplinary construction company which have intended to expand its business operation to Cameroun and Democratic Republic of Congo. Design and build staffbungalows for an expatriate firm. The company has acquired a plot of land to be developed for the senior staff of ten in each country.

QUESTION:

Land acquisition: explain land acquisition processes in the foreign countries,

NB: I only want answer for the question on land acquisisition

Answer 1

The land acquisition processes in the foreign countries can be in following manner-

Example- Land acquisition processes in Vietnam

There are four ways to lease land in Vietnam-

For investors keen on leasing land in Vietnam, there are several ways to obtain land with a land use required certificate (LURC).

Method 1

The first method is through allocation where the state allocates a LURC via an administrative decision.

The land users are required to pay land use fee to the government and this option is available to investors in residential housing projects and infrastructure project in cemeteries.

Method 2

The government leases the land to the land user where the users pay their rent to the government.

The rental can be paid in lump sum or annually. This is in many ways like the customary system of renting.

Method 3

The third option is by a lease or sub-lease agreement with the landlord in an industrial zone, industrial cluster, processing zone, high-tech zone or an economic zone.

The landlord is typically a commercial enterprise that has obtained land use rights under the above two mentioned options.

Method 4

The fourth option is by an agreement on the transfer of assets that are attached to the land with an agreement to the transfer of land use rights, a land lease agreement or a capital contribution with an existing land user.

In such cases the investor acquiring the land use rights will become the land user of the acquired land area.

The investors can choose any of these options however, the third method is most straightforward since the landlord in the specific zone should have completed all necessary paperwork and procedures prior to renting land.

To renew the lease, the investor has to obtain approval for an extension. The companies also have the option to rent an office in a building or lease from a company in an industrial zone or export-processing zone.

Example- Land acquisition processes in India

The new Land Acquisition Bill has detailed a process for acquiring land in India.

The process could take up to 50 months. It will increase the gestation period of projects.

The new time line and the attendant uncertainty at each step will have to be factored in by promoters of projects while calculating the costs and feasibility.

The complete details of the process are given in the table below.

Some of the processes can be conducted concurrently with others.

The processes which need to be done sequentially are shown in bold letters.

These add up to 50 months not counting extensions.

Time limits for various steps for Land Acquisition under the new Act

Process	Section	Time limit
Social Impact Assessment(SIA)	4(1) last proviso	6 months
Appraisal of SIA by review committee	7(4) and 7(5)	2 months
Examination of land acquisition proposal and SIA by appropriate government	8	No time limit specified
SIA expert group appraisal to Preliminary notification	14	12 months but extendable by appropriate government
Preliminary notification to updating of land records	11(5)	2 months
Preliminary notification to objections	16(1)	60 days
Preliminary notification to R&R survey	17(1)	Time limit to be prescribed in Rules
Preliminary notification under section 11 to Declaration under section 20	15 and 20(7) (inconsistency)	12 months (S15)12 months but extendable by appropriate government; also court stay period excluded (S20(7))
Time for compensation claims to be made	22(2)	30 days to 6 months
Declaration to Award	26	12 months but extendable by appropriate government
Correction of Award by Collector	34(1)	6 months
Award to Possession of land by collector	39(1)	After ensuring compensation is paid (3 months) and monetary component of R&R paid (6 months).
Time for infrastructure entitlements under R&R	39(1) proviso	18 months after award

Total Time Limit (assuming no extensions): SIA (6 months) + Expert group appraisal (2 months) + Preliminary notification (12 months) + Declaration (12 months) + Award (12 months) + Possession (6 months) = 50 months.