NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Thursday gave its nod to the much-awaited land acquisition bill , paving the way for its introduction in Parliament in the last week of the winter session.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appeared to personally pilot the bill when he told Cabinet colleagues that the bill had been vetted by the standing committee and the group of ministers, and should be passed.

There was curiosity about when the new bill's provisions would kick in. The rural development ministry has decided that compensation norms would be applicable to all land acquisitions where either the money has not been paid or where possession of the land is still pending. Even cases where compensation has been accepted under protest would come under the purview of the new bill.

The proposed legislation seeks to amend the 1894 land bill that was seen to out of sync with changed times, with land becoming a scarce commodity and acquisition leading to agitations.

The proposed law makes it mandatory for government to seek the consent of 80% land owners for acquisition for private projects that fall under 'public purpose', which is the category of projects that empowers government to acquire land.

The Cabinet is learnt to have finalized on 70% consent for public private partnership projects. The acquisition for government projects would not require any permission from landowners.

The consent clause witnessed a lot of drama after the group of ministers headed by Sharad Pawar settled on 67% consent. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi vetoed the dilution, insisting on 80%.

The hike from 67% in case of PPP was also because of the insistence of defence minister A K Antony.

However, it marks a climbdown from the earlier provision whereby consent was to be secured from landowners as well as livelihood losers.