New Delhi, Feb 10 (PTI) A parliamentary panel has recommended to set up an empowered committee of state and central ministers to discuss issues related to land acquisition and build a consensus on land reforms in consultation with stakeholders.

The report of the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce said that a long-term solution to the land issue needs to be worked out in a structured manner.

"The Committee, therefore, recommends the government to constitute an empowered committee of state ministers and the concerned central ministers for discussing the issues with regard to land acquisition and build a consensus on land reforms, in consultation with industry and other stakeholders," the report said.

The empowered committee, it said, should look into issues relating to the land acquisition policies, digitisation of land records and simplifying administrative procedures like registration and land use conversion.

"Further, the possibility of having a land bank which will be made readily available for developmental projects may be discussed with concerned stakeholders," it added.

To promote the steel sector, it has suggested to re-negotiate India's free trade agreements with ASEAN, Japan and South Korea to ensure reciprocity.

"Until this is carried out, concessional tariffs with these countries should be suspended. India's concession to the ASEAN has been far in excess than concessions granted to India," it added.

The report titled - Attracting investment in post-COVID Economy: Challenges and Opportunities for India - has also suggested a three-pronged approach to address the issues faced by the automotive industry, build domestic capacity and attract investment.

The recommendations include a reduction in GST rate from 28 per cent to 18 per cent for all categories of vehicles and auto components; introduction of incentive-based vehicle scrappage scheme; and inking free-trade pacts with certain African nations, including Algeria and South Africa.

The committee, it said, has expressed distress over "poor" performance of the FAME-II scheme (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India).

It has observed that the sale of electric vehicles (EVs) across all segments during 2019 has not been satisfactory.

It has recommended the Department of Heavy Industry to expedite the installation of charging stations across the county.

For medical devices sector, it has suggested that the pricing of medical devices must be separated from that of drugs in view of the difference in nature of the two products.

"A separate regulatory body should be created to review and control the price of medical devices. The regulatory body should be tasked with formulating appropriate prices for medical devices...," it added.

For the electronics industry, it said the committee has expressed its concern regarding the ambiguity in differentiation between manufacturing and assembly process.

"The committee is apprehensive that most of the mobile phones which are claimed to have been manufactured in India might have been actually assembled with parts imported from elsewhere," it added.

About the solar industry, the committee has recommended that basic customs duty in the range of 25-50 per cent should be announced immediately in order to protect domestic industries from the onslaught of cheap imports and promote domestic manufacturing of solar components.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)