A Cabinet Paper presented by Lands and Parliamentary Reforms Minister Gayantha Karunathilake proposed that in order to promote agriculture, it was necessary that lease concessions for such land.

At present, when lands are requested for agricultural projects, if the proposed agricultural project has commercial objectives, the normal procedure is to alienate lands on a commercial basis.

Thus the new lease concession system below proposes that tax concessions be directly given on the basis of agriculture.

The following was approved in terms of concessions:

Suspend the recovery of the premium calculated as equal to triple of the annual lease recovered once and for all, when alienation is made under the State Land Ordinance No 8 of 1947.

Calculate the lease revision by addition of 20 percent to the lease of the previous year, instead of the present revision of 50 percent affected once in five years.

Calculate the initial lease of the second lease period by addition of 20 percent to the lease charged at the end of the lease period in case of extending the lease period upon completion of the first lease period.

Reduce the annual lease rate from 4 percent to 2 percent effective from the date of receiving the approval of the former Minister to alienate the lands on the long term lease, when the assessed value of the land is less than Rs.5, 000,000.