跟踪土地租赁改革和土地利用变化 ： 古吉拉特邦和卡纳塔克邦的见解

Summary

The paper "Tracking Reforms in Land Leasing and Change in Land Use: Insights From Gujarat and Karnataka" by Ankit Bhatia, published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in May 2021, critically evaluates the reforms undertaken in two Indian states, Gujarat and Karnataka, focusing on land leasing and changes in land use. Key insights include:

• Complexity of Land Governance: India's land governance is historically complex, politically sensitive, and economically inefficient. It has faced challenges in balancing land assignment and balancing of land and property rights.

• State Government Initiatives: Recent reforms in Gujarat and Karnataka have been initiated through legislative, executive, and judicial actions aimed at improving land market efficiency. Executive action was the most frequent, with judiciary playing a critical role when lower branches provided windfall relaxation to protective regulations.

• Reform Dynamics: Most reforms were not structural in nature, merely aiming to ease restrictions on the transfer of agricultural land. There was a notable shift from protective frameworks towards facilitating greater land transfers to industries, promoting capital-intensive agriculture, and digitalization of land-related governance.

• Challenges Persist: Despite efforts, old structural problems persist due to continued political class-bureaucracy-private corporation nexus, high information asymmetry, and limited access to accurate land records. Structural bottlenecks need fixing for sustainable land resource utilization.

• Future Outlook: Achieving India's goal of transitioning to a high-income economy relies heavily on effective land reform. Federal and state governments must improve their political willingness and administrative capacity to reform land sector policies.

• State vs. National Dynamics: The paper highlights the varying effectiveness of reforms based on state-specific needs and historical characteristics, underscoring the complexity of implementing national land policies in a diverse country like India.

The paper underscores the importance of addressing structural issues in land governance and the necessity for sustained, inclusive reforms to support India's economic growth aspirations.