Lack of land holding up industrialisation

THAT is what the major business associations have proposed to the government. The issue of diverting agricultural land to industry has always been a contentious issue. In a country with more than 160 million mouths to feed, the continuous depletion of agro land has become a major headache for policymakers. Indeed, the lack of suitable land has been cited as a major reason for the lack of foreign direct investment in the country.
In the midst of this entire crisis, the government has been sitting on a large estate in Savar for the proposed relocation of the leather industry. That saga has gone on for more than a decade over the question of who will pay for the establishment of central effluent treatment plant. Similarly, there is in government possession significant amounts of land in and around closed nationalized mills. Needless to say, the issues of dependable power and requisite infrastructure are also major impediments. However, without land, which remains the primary requirement for setting up any industry, there can be no movement forward on any meaningful industrial investment, be it domestic or foreign.
Given that land scarcity has reached critical levels, some basic rethinking about the usage of land lying unutilised in government possession be thought of as sites for economic zones and industrial estates.