1st Ld-Writethru: Indian president signs land ordinance re-promulgated by Modi gov't

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee has signed off on the land acquisition ordinance, which was reissued last week under unusual circumstances after the government failed to pass it in Parliament, said local TV channel NDTV Friday.

This is also the first time for the president to bypass one house of the Parliament, the Upper House, to sign the ordinance to let it be re-promulgated.

The ordinance, or emergency executive order, seeks to make land purchase easier for industry and to develop roads, ports and power stations, among other infrastructure projects.

To reissue it, the government cut short the budget session in one house of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha or Upper House of Parliament, which refused to endorse the bill.

The Indian Constitution says the house where the bill is pending has to be prorogued, or cut short, for the government to re-promulgate an ordinance.

Parliament is currently on a month-long recess after the Budget session that started on Feb. 23.

However, the ordinance will now be presented in both houses of Parliament again.

The Lower House of Parliament or Lok Sabha has already overwhelmingly endorsed it.

The ordinance includes nine changes made when a bill to replace it was passed in the Lok Sabha last month. With no possibility of the bill making it through the Rajya Sabha, where the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies are in a minority, the government had no option but to issue the ordinance again.

A united opposition led by the Congress has termed the ordinance anti-farmer and vowed not to let it pass. Endi