National Land Utilisation Policy (Draft)

The goal of the National Land Utilisation Policy is to achieve improvement of livelihood, food and water security, and best possible realization of various developmental targets so as to ensure sustainable development of India.

To ensure optimal utilisation of the limited land resources in India for achieving sustainable development, addressing social, economic and environmental considerations and to provide a framework for the States to formulate their respective land utilisation policies incorporating statespecific concerns and priorities. The specific objectives are given below. Objectives related to social concerns

1. Protection of agricultural lands from land use conversions so as to ensure food security and to meet consumption needs of a growing population and to meet livelihood needs of the dependent population.
2. To identify and protect lands that are required to promote and support social development, particularly of tribal communities and poor section of society for their livelihood.
3. To preserve historic and cultural heritage by protecting, places/sites of religious, archaeological, scenic and tourist importance. Objectives related to environmental concerns
4. To preserve and conserve lands under important environmental functions such as those declared as National Parks, Wild Life Sanctuaries, Reserved Forests, Eco Sensitive Zones, etc. and guide land uses around such preserved and conserved areas so as not to have land use conflicts or negative environmental impacts.
5. To preserve the areas of natural environment and its resources that provide ecosystem services. Objectives related to developmental/ economic concerns
6. To promote properly guided and coordinated development in a sustainable manner of all developmental sectors including agriculture, urban, industrial, infrastructure and mining so as to minimise land use conflicts or negative environmental impacts. Objectives related to enforcement and implementation of the policy 7. To suggest a general implementation framework for implementing land utilisation policy by all concerned at different levels, viz. national, state, regional and local, and undertaking capacity building