NEW DELHI: While the government seeks to reform the land acquisition law this week, it has decided to fast-track 10 power projects worthRs 90,000 crore planned by state-owned companies led by NTPC , which have been held up by land-related issues, identified in the Economic Survey as the biggest hurdle for stalled public sector investments In a bid to jumpstart economic activity through public investments, the power ministry last week turned to the cabinet secretariat’s project monitoring group to help bring back on track stalled investments involving over 15,600 MW of capacity and critical transmission lines for states such as Jammu & Kashmir.After factoring in the 10 projects taken up by the power ministry, 305 projects worth Rs 18.85 lakh crore are now awaiting government intervention to get off the ground, including 97 public and private sector power projects with investments of Rs 6.33 lakh crore.The group, set up to unlock hurdles facing big-ticket and strategic investments, has so far resolved problems facing over 200 projects worth Rs 6.9 lakh crore. These included about 100 power projects worth Rs 3.53 lakh crore, though some of them have come back to seek intervention on new hurdles that have emerged on their road to commissioning.In his first outreach to the people over the proposed land acquisition law that the opposition wants to scuttle in Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a rural audience last Thursday not to be misled by those projecting it as anti-farmer.“The previous government enacted a law that would not enable farmers to get water and irrigation facilities, had no provision for allotment of land for schools, hospitals and houses. I ask you whether you need all these facilities or not,” Modi said at the launch of a thermal power plant in Khandwa, stressing that 20% of India’s households still live in the Stone Age without any electricity.“If public sector firms like NTPC have to lead the investment drive to revive the economy , it is imperative that their existing projects worth thousands of crores get going so that fresh finances can be arranged for new investments,” said a senior government official, adding that land acquisition is a larger hurdle for public sector investments than the private sector, as highlighted in the Economic Survey.NTPC is developing eight of the 10 projects that the power ministry has sought to expedite, with investments of over Rs 76,000 crore at stake to generate about 15,000 MW. This includes a Rs 5,000-crore joint venture between the Indian Railways and NTPC for a 1,000-MW plant at Nabinagar in Bihar, where the ministry has attributed delays to ‘land acquisition and security related’ issues. Of the 1,521 acres required for the plant, the joint venture has got about 1,100 acres.A 4,000-MW plant in Telangana with a Rs 20,000-crore investment from NTPC is also held up, while three generation projects in Madhya Pradesh entailing investments of Rs 28,000 crore are delayed as the state government is yet to formulate rules under the land acquisition law passed by the previous UPA government, said a ministry official, requesting anonymity.Law and order problems over land have stalled NTPC’s 1,320 MW Meja thermal power plant in Allahabad district, with possession of land for laying critical water pipelines pending in eight villages. In Solapur, Maharashtra, the company faces rehabilitation and resettlement issues as well as difficulties in laying water pipelines, with the state yet to grant it right of use for another 1,320 MW plant.Road transport, highways and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari told ET in an interview last month that the land acquisition law proposed by the government will ensure uplift of the poorest of the poor through employment and sustainable livelihoods.“The land acquisition act which is being talked about — if power plants are not made, how will farmers get electricity, how will industries come up? If land is not acquired, how will irrigation work be done?” Gadkari had asked.“One sector with a large number of stalled projects in both public and private sectors is electricity,” said the Survey, noting that 80 power generation and transmission projects were stalled as of December 2014, with 54 of them from the private sector.