The post-Singur land row has not just derailed industrialisation but has also come in the way of private English-medium schools affiliated to Delhi-based boards setting up campus here.

Sources in private business groups involved in education said apprehensions about buying agricultural land had forced them to put on hold plans to open ICSE/ISC or CBSE schools on the outskirts of the city and in the districts.

“Many organisations are finding it difficult to set up schools as they are unable to meet the space criteria,” said Gerry Arathoon, the additional secretary and officiating chief executive of the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) which conducts the ICSE and ISC tests.

The council as well as the Central Board of Secondary Education have stipulated that those wanting to set up a plus-II school in the city must have at least one acre of land to qualify for affiliation. Elsewhere in the state, the minimum requirement is two acres.

The rule was framed in 2006 to ensure that new schools have adequate space for emergency exits and extra-curricular activities.

“It’s not possible to find a one-acre plot in the city. And if you move outside, acquiring a two-acre plot would involve buying tracts of agricultural land. In fact, in the districts, you need much more than two acres for there you need to set up residential schools to attract students from Calcutta. Post-Singur, we are wary of buying agricultural land,” said an official of a private education group, requesting anonymity.

A prominent group that runs three schools in Calcutta and North 24-Parganas had planned to open a fourth. But vaulting the land hurdle is too daunting a task.

“Our first choice was Rajarhat but we did not get a one-acre plot there. Then we identified a plot measuring more than two acres near Singur. But the land controversy has prompted us to shelve the project,” said an official of the group.

A similar reason has forced another group to abandon its plan to open a school near Kona Expressway in Howrah.

The land crisis has also put the state government in a fix. Organisations willing to set up schools must obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the government before seeking affiliation from the Delhi-based authorities. A source said the education department was withholding a dozen-odd NOCs as the applicants had failed to meet the space criteria.

“We have written to the council apprising it about the problem a few months ago. But we are yet to get a reply,” said A. Sanyal, the deputy director in the state school education department.