New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS): Industry lobby FICCI Sunday said it has suggested to the government to increase the land mass of 100 acres for projects in the draft Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011 to 500 acres.

"Industry feels that 100 acres is very low for projects especially in rural areas and this may only encourage smaller and fragmented holdings, particularly in mining sectors," the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) said in a statement.

According to the statement, the industry body has also recommended the lowering of the percentage of discontent families affected due to land acquisition from 80 percent to 50 percent.

"The government may consider provision for 50 percent or more of the project affected families in the bill, (this) would be more practical," it said.

The industry body further sought flexibility in the "public purpose" clause of the bill for preventing the investments in the project becoming unviable due to policy changes, as long as the project continue to accrue benefit to the public at large.