Is considered involuntary when affected individuals or communities do not have the right to refuse land acquisition that results in displacement. Resettlement refers both to physical displacement (relocation or loss of shelter) and to economic displacement (loss of assets or access to assets that leads to loss of income sources or means of livelihood).

Displaced persons may be classified as persons: (i) who have formal legal rights to the land (including customary and traditional rights recognised under national laws); (ii) who do not have formal legal rights to land at the time of the census, but who have a claim to land that is recognised or recognisable under the national laws; or (iii) who have no recognisable legal right or claim to the land they occupy. The census establishes the status of the displaced persons. Persons moving into the project location after the cut off date such as opportunistic squatters and recently arrived economic migrants are not entitled to compensation or other assistance.

When displacement cannot be avoided, the State or the private party will offer displaced persons and communities’ compensation for loss of assets at full replacement cost and other assistance to help them improve or at least restore their standards of living or livelihoods.

Land acquisition for the project may result in the physical displacement of people as well as their economic displacement. As a result, requirements for both physical displacement and economic displacement may apply.

One of the most debatable issues under the Land acquisition Act 1894 is interpretation of ‘public purpose’ around which disputes concerning acquisition revolve. Private companies acquire land for infrastructure, power, residential or such similar projects and are challenged on the ground that land is being taken over for private purposes or by a private entity. The comprehensive amendment to the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 wherein it has redefined 'public purpose' to now include private hospitals and institutions. The government, as per the recently promulgated 2014 ordinance has done away with the time limit of five years to start construction of work on the acquired land, enabling public/private players to sit on the acquired land.

The process of taking legal action in land related dispute is litigation and the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 has made the process more transparent whereby farmers have more say as compared to industrialists or the government.

Designated areas in countries that possess special economic regulations that are different from other areas in the same country. These regulations tend to contain measures that are conducive to foreign direct investment. Conducting business in a SEZ usually means that a company will receive tax incentives and the opportunity to pay lower tariffs.

Mass displacement may lead to impoverishment. The extraction of land from a community or group and limited commitments of compensation which do not account for the problems both economic and social, leads to regressive roads to poverty. Communities may thus be forced to change their professions, or may find themselves in hostile environments.

The Land Act 2013 makes it mandatory for obtaining consent of atleast 80 per cent project affected families in case of acquisition for private companies and consent of 70 per cent of project affected families in case of acquisition for public private partnership projects which alludes to community usage for commonly owned land or common property. Provisions for compensation and rehabilitation and resettlement has been made for landowners and landless who rely on common property, whose livelihood is likely to be affected by the said acquisition.

Named 'The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act', 2013, it replaces the Land Acquisition Act 1984. The objectives of the new Act is fair compensation, resettlement and rehabilitation of those affected, adequate safeguards and complete transparency in the process of land acquisition.