Land acquisition raises a lot of passion. The Modi government had to beat a hasty retreat on its proposal to exempt five types of projects from mandatory social impact assessment and consent from 70 percent of the affected people in case of PPP projects and 80 percent in case of private sector projects. But being on the concurrent list, state governments have been evolving their own unique laws. Haryana’s law became known for its annuities in addition to one time compensation. What makes the Chandrababu Naidu government in Andhra Pradesh’s scheme spectacularly unique and worthy of emulation on a broader front is its win-win character. Farmers and others in the Vijayawada-Guntur region were incentivized to wholeheartedly surrender their lands for building the new state capital, Amravati. In addition to the monetary compensation, a part of the land acquired would be returned back after the specified number of years duly developed. It is common knowledge that upfront compensation or...