Land, ROU Acquisition & Statutory

Issues
By
Shri. M.K. Moharana
Ch. Manger-RKPL

India Oil & Gas Pipeline Conference

April 25-26, 2013
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Why Pipelines
Economical
Environment Friendly
Low Risk
Large Volumes
Lesser Risk for Spillage

Salient Features of Pipeline Project

A pipeline project involves laying of buried pipeline of
specified length & diameter to transport Natural
Gas/Petroleum Products/Crude oil from one or multiple
supply source & delivery location.
Important components of Pipeline Project are:
Dispatch/Pumping station
IPS/CP stations
SV/CP stations
Receipt stations

Salient Features of Pipeline Project

Pipe & Equipment Procurement

Acquisition of Permanent Land for pumping station,

Receiving station and SV stations.
ROU for line pipe laying.

Statutory regulations and clearances.

Laying of Pipeline

Pre Commissioning & Commissioning

Statutory Regulations & Clearances

Laying of a cross country pipeline requires various
clearances from different authorities. Broadly these are:
Authorization from Petroleum & Natural Gas

Regulatory Board for laying of cross country petroleum

liquid & gas pipeline except dedicated lines.
Environment clearance/Permission to lay pipeline

through wild-life/Sanctuary/ eco-sensitive zone.

CRZ clearance, for pipeline passing through CRZ.
Permission for crossing of Roads / Rivers / Canals /
Railway / Wet-lands / Highways etc.
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Statutory Regulations & Clearances

Permission for wayleave facility to lay the pipeline in

Port land in case pipeline is to pass through the port

land.
Explosive Clearance from PESO.
Clearance from Pollution Control Board of respective

State Govt.
Approval from Fire Advisor, Ministry of Home Affairs for

the pipeline.
Gazette Notification for Declaration of Prohibited area

for Dispatch/Pumping stn., IPS/CP stn., SV/CP stn. &

receiving stn.

ROU Acquisition ( under P&MP ACT,1962)

ROU

Acquisition is done thru

Authority appointed for the project.

competent

Request required to be made for services of

state govt. revenue personnel on deputation to

serve as Competent Authority (C.A).
Central

gazette
notification
to
declare
appointment of C.A under the P&MP ACT for
dealing with cases related to land and further
notifications for acquisition etc.
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Process of ROU Acquisition

Competent Authority handles following activities:
Preparation of 3(i) proposal & submission to MoP&NG
3(i) Gazette notification.
Notice Servicing for 3(i)
Hearing of Objection after minimum 21 days notice

Process of ROU Acquisition

Preparation of 6(i) proposal & submission to MOP&NG

6(i) Gazette notification.

Notice Serving for 6(i) to the land owners
Distribution of Compensations.
Opening of ROU

Process of Land Acquisition

Permanent Land Acquisition The requirement of

number of permanent land along the pipeline route is

determined after detail engineering. Permanent land
is required for Despatch Terminal /Receipt Terminal
/SV station /IP station. The steps involved are :
Plot Identification
Submission of proposal to concerned authority for

acquisition

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Process of Land Acquisition

Publication of 4(i) gazette notification.
Notice Servicing & Hearing of Objection
6(i) Gazette notification.
Declaration of award

Possession & Registration of land.

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Major Challenges in Land/ROU Acquisition

ROU Compensation:
Restriction is imposed in the ROU notified land on sale

purchase and permanent construction.

Compensation is paid only at the rate of 10% of market

rate of land for the ROU acquired.

Compensation is given based on Government rates

which is much below the prevailing land rates.

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Major Challenges in Land/ROU Acquisition

ROU Compensation: Solutions

The compensation should be reviewed for

amendment to cover inflation burns and other basic
necessities of the affected land owners. Recent times
have shown scarcity of land and its multi-fold
appreciation in a short span of time.

Permanent acquisition of Pipeline ROU can be done

Develop a common corridor which can be utilized for

pipeline laying.

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Major Challenges in Land/ROU Acquisition

Lack of Trust and uproar by local villagers:
Villagers often indulge in violent protest & uproar as

they are not aware of the benefits of the pipeline

project.
Solution:
Trust can be developed by driving high Corporate

Social Responsibility (CSR) activities through affected

areas and providing work opportunities to locals.

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Statutory Issues
Approval from various Departments:
DFCC, Irrigation departments etc are not clear about the

provisions provided in pipeline and what standards

should be followed for providing approvals.

Solution:
The procedure should be standardized at ministry level.
A standard booklet should be issued to all the
concerned.
Common safety parameters should also be provided in
the booklet.
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Statutory Issues
Change in Jurisdiction of Approving authority:
Jurisdictions of canal (LGC) and roads (PIU) were changed
from one
authority to another after issue of demand
notes. This lead to submission of fresh applications to new
authorities for approvals, resulting in delay.

Solution:
Approval should be given by the department issuing the
demand note. Any such approval should be honored by all
the authorities, even if jurisdiction is changed in between.
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Statutory Issues
EIA study /Environmental & Forest clearance
For obtaining Environment & Forest Clearance, Project Proponent

needs to conduct EIA & RA Study of the entire route including

boosting stations. Even Population Density Index needs to studied.
Time elapse to wait for field data collection for EIA study till

monsoon period is over.

Time consuming environmental public hearings required to be

conducted in every districts of each states through which pipeline

shall be traversing .

Solution:
EPH shall be conducted after 30 days of press notification involving

all the stakeholders.

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Recommendations
Expeditious approval of Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation

and Resettlement (LARR) Bill, 2011.

Pipeline industry to be declared as Infrastructure
Industry.
To exempt pipeline industry from the purview of MoE&F,
GoI circular dated 30.7.2009 and 21.3.2011
Speedy deputation of Revenue staff and competent
authority by State Govt.
The compensation should be reviewed for amendment
to cover inflation burns and other basic necessities of the
affected.

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Recommendations
Beneficiaries receiving compensation ought to be

counselled on effective deployment of the large

amounts they receive as lump sum payments.
A major innovation introduced by Haryana in 2010 is

the 'No Litigation Incentive'. Under this incentive,

designed to reduce avoidable litigation around land
acquisition, an additional 20 per cent of the basic rate
of land determined by the Land Acquisition Collector
would be paid as incentive to landowners who do not
challenge the acquisition of their land, and accept the
compensation awarded as final.

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THANK YOU

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