The LARR Act is the common abbreviation for the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, an Act of the Indian Parliament that regulates land acquisition. It was enacted to replace the colonial-era Land Acquisition Act, 1894, which was criticized for its lack of transparency and inadequate compensation for affected persons. The LARR Act, 2013 received the President's assent on September 27, 2013, and came into force on January 1, 2014.
The Act was created to solve the problem of forced acquisition and inadequate support for displaced families by introducing a more humane, participative, and transparent process. Key provisions include mandatory Social Impact Assessment (SIA) studies for every acquisition and a requirement for the government to provide rehabilitation and resettlement to affected families. The compensation structure mandates that landowners receive an amount that is up to four times the market value in rural areas and twice the market value in urban areas. Furthermore, for acquisition by private companies or Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects, the Act originally required the consent of 80% and 70% of the affected families, respectively.
The LARR Act, 2013 is connected to the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, which it replaced. It has been subject to recent changes, notably through the promulgation of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014, which was later introduced as a Bill in 2015. This amendment sought to exempt five categories of projects—including defence, rural infrastructure, and industrial corridors—from the requirements of SIA, restrictions on multi-cropped land acquisition, and the mandatory consent clause. The Ordinance also changed the term 'private companies' to 'private entities' for land acquisition purposes. While the core principles of fair compensation and rehabilitation remain, these proposed amendments aimed to expedite the land acquisition process for key development projects.