Realty stocks rallied sharply after the government approved an Ordinance for the Land Acquisition Law. Shares in Godrej Properties was up 13 per cent, while Sobha Gained 10 per cent and Phoenix also gained 7 per cent in trade. DLF and Unitech were the other gainers from the space.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government decided to relax certain provisions of the Act and add Section 10 A to the legislation keeping in the mind development needs of the society.

He said the mandatory "consent" clause and Social Impact Assessment (SIA) will not be applicable if the land is acquired for five purposes including national security, defence, rural infrastructure including electrification, industrial corridors and building social infrastructure including PPP where ownership of land continues to be vested with the government.

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