Q.920 OCI leasing agricultural

land in India to start a business

Hi, I have a question. A OCI (Overseas citizen of India) person, can he/she lease an agricultural land and plantation land in India for certain period of time (ex: 5 years)?. I know that OCI person can not buy agricultural and plantation land, just want to en quire about lease to start a business. Please answer my question ,let me know if you need any more information. Thanks, Ganesh. Answer: Not sure whether you remember some of the old Indian movies such as ‘Mother India’ a story about exploitation of poor farmers by rich Zamindars [landlords] Renting of agricultural land is officially not allowed in India so as to protect poor farmers from exploitation. However, there may be several ways to start an agricultural business in India and for this you need to contact the appropriate state government authority where your intention is to setup a new business. Permission for any viable business project I’m sure would be granted by the concerned authorities. As far as leasing agricultural land, see question/answer number 567 titled ‘Can NRI lease Agricultural land in India’