NEW DELHI: The government seems to be in a fix over giving compensation to property owners whose land is acquired for public purposes. Sources said different infrastructure development agencies want the government to allow them to pay 12% annual interest on the total compensation amount as is done by the National Highways Authority of India ( NHAI ).Sources said the issue was being discussed at the highest level involving all major agencies which acquire land for building infrastructure. NHAI has the giant share of land acquired by such agencies.TOI has learnt that other agencies, including railways, have told the government that farmers want them to give interest on the compensation amount as the affected parties feel government entities are not following a uniform norm. The notified circle rate is taken as the base for calculating compensation.As per the land acquisition law of 2013 (known as RFCTLARR), minimum compensation is to be a multiple of the circle rate, plus value of the assets attached to the property and a solatium equal to 100% of the total value of the property being acquired. The law also says that the circle rate notified on the date of the first notification by the government under Section 11, which corresponds to Section 3A of NH Act, will be taken for calculating the compensation amount. With such notifications, the government announces the intent to acquire land.The land acquisition law specifies that in addition to the market value of the land, the collector (land acquiring authority) shall award an amount calculated at the rate of 12% per annum on such market value for the period commencing from the date of notification of social impact assessment study.“Since the need to get land quickly is crucial for infrastructure projects for public good, cumbersome procedures (social impact assessment study) under the RFCTLARR don’t apply to 13 laws. The road transport and highways ministry had taken the opinion of Attorney General before coming out with a comprehensive guideline on how to arrive at the compensation,” said a government official.Officials said the high expenditure on account of land acquisition has become a cause of concern for the government. They added in several cases, the share of land cost is 40-50% of the total cost of projects. In some highway projects, the compensation is higher than the total construction cost.The PMO has asked the NHAI to come up with solutions of how to reduce the upfront burden on government for acquiring land for highway development.