Corporate Convening I:
Responsible Land Investments for Inclusive Growth
05th March 2020
Kamala Devi Complex, India International Centre (IIC), New Delhi
Background note
Of late, investments around mining and power sectors, infrastructures, real estates and agri-business, based around and requiring land, are increasingly facing conflicts, delays and often getting stalled. One of the major reasons behind this increasing stalling of investments, which has reached all time high of INR 13 trillion in June, 2019 (26% quarter for private sector projects), as per CMIE[1], has been delay in land acquisitions ( INR 1 trillion). It was reported in 2016 by RRI-TISS that land-related conflicts in India affect about 3.2 million people and impact investments worth over Rs12 trillion ($179 billion)[2]. Data journalism website Land Conflict Watch[3], shows that 15 lakh crores of investment and 9 million people affected by 709 conflicts as on July 2019. Financial sector, esp. banks owe a significant burden of their NPA to land-based investments.
Land remains a finite resource and its availability, valuation and tenure often inappropriately interpreted and speculated, contestations and conflicts poise to expand temporally and spatially, fuelling such substantial and extreme investment-risks. The financial risks posed are multiple, ranging from slippage in construction times and unexpected cash flow loss due to suspensions to expropriation of assets following the loss of insurance coverage. The escalation of risk can be extremely rapid and irreversible.
Traditional approaches[4] are increasingly becoming less effective. Integration of risk management into corporate governance and finance seems to be the need of the hour in India. Emerging examples in form of global instruments (viz. FAO’s VGGT, USAID’s Responsible Investment Guidelines etc.) and experiments (viz. pepsico, Nestle, Coke etc.) provide directions and experiences for consideration and localization.
Indian corporate governance has already adopted social and environmental responsibilities with many pioneers demonstrating sustainability commitments. Strategic engagements Land tenure due diligence, can extend Corporates scope pf substantive risk reduction while augmenting sustainability showcasing their commitments to natural resources and local communities. Land is not only an important corporate-precursor along with labour and capital, but also a critical development and socio-cultural crucible for communities at large for sustainable development. Land engagements call for more attention and innovation within corporate governance for inclusive growth.
This workshop aims to expose corporate leaders and executives on new ways of managing land tenure risks and strategies for Responsible Investment for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development.
Participants: Executives and Leaders from Public and Private Sectors
Panellists/Speakers: Academicians, Policy Makers, Business Leaders
Registration
For meaningful learning and interaction, the participants will be limited to 40. Registration is free, but first cum first basis, with preferential allocation to ensure diverse representation. One fourth seats will be reserved for those registering for ILDC2020. Registration link is Registration_ILDC2020.
Pranab Ranjan Choudhury: Secretary-ILDC 2020 & Vice President-NRMC, pranabrc@nrmc.co ; +91 9437021261
Secretariat ILDC 2020: indialandconf@gmail.com ; centerforlandgovernance@gmail.com ; +91-674-2386114
Other Convening Windows of ILDC 2020
[1] https://www.livemint.com/news/india/new-investment-plunges-to-a-15-year-low-1561976363936.html
[2] https://www.livemint.com/Politics/UyshvVvVEtB0eiVoHmadeO/Landrelated-conflicts-in-India-threaten-investments-of-Rs12.html
[3] https://www.landconflictwatch.org; as on 8 Aug 2019
[4] Viz. Relying only on and devoting more time to negotiating with government than with the populations and the local governments; Absence of transparency in these negotiations and the – at best – hasty negotiations at local level drove projects to failure; Coercion and corruption often serve to consolidate, rather than erode, the strength of domestic opposition; engaging only during one stage of investment viz. establishment