Land Acquisition may be defined as the action of the government whereby it acquires land from its owners in order to pursue certain public purpose or for any company. This acquisition is subject to payment of compensation to the owners or to persons interested in the land. Land acquisitions by the government generally are compulsory in nature, not paying heed to the owner's unwillingness to part with the land.

Acquisition and Requisition of property falls in the concurrent list , which means that both the centre and the state government can make laws on the matter. There are a number of local and specific laws which provide for acquisition of land under them but the main law that deals with acquisition is the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

The Act authorizes governments to acquire land for public purposes such as planned development, provisions for town or rural planning, provision for residential purpose to the poor or landless and for carrying out any education, housing or health scheme of the Government. It hinders speedy acquisition of land at reasonable prices, resulting in cost overruns.

It was enacted for building an adequate stock of urban land for public interest purposes such as low-income housing, road widening, development of parks and other amenities. Such land is typically acquired by the government through payment of compensation to landowners as per market value.

The objective of the Act is to amend the laws relating to land acquisition for public purpose and for companies and also to determine the compensation, which is required to be made in cases of land acquisition. The enactment states that the expression land includes benefits that arise of land and things attached to the earth or permanently attached to the anything fastened to the earth.

Moreover if the compensation given is under protest than as per the enactment the awardees are entitled to refer the matter to the court for determination of requisite amount of compensation.

The Ministry of Rural Development being the Nodal Union Government to administer the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, processes the proposals for amendment of various provisions of the said Act from time to time.

Further the Act also specifies the public officers who are authorized for such acquiring of land on behalf of the State. They include the Collector, Deputy Commissioner and also any officer who is specially appointed by the appropriate government under the authority of law. The collector prepares the declaration and copies are forwarded to the administrative departments and all the concerned parties. This declaration is then required to be published in the same manner as in case of the notification issued. The collector issues the awards, further allows a time of not less than 15 days for any objections to be filed.

All State legislative proposals covering any enactment on the subject of Acquisition and Requisition of Property or any other State legislation having a bearing upon the acquisition and requisition of land are examined by the department of land resources for the purpose of seeking Presidential Assent as required under Article 200 (in case of Bills) or under proviso to Article 213 (1) of the Constitution. The division also examines all proposals of State Governments for amendments to Land Acquisition Act, 1894, for the purpose of concurring, as required under Clause (2) of Article 254 of the Constitution.

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