Punjab cabinet gives nod to new land pooling policy for industrial sector

Mohali : The Punjab cabinet led by chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday gave its nod to the new land pooling policy (LPP) for the industrial sector under the ambit of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) to promote industry in the city.

The cabinet also allowed increased compensation for land owners opting for its land pooling scheme for residential projects.

The move comes as GMADA gears up to acquire 1,680 acres of land in the first phase of development of Aerotropolis Estate, an extension of Aerocity.

The policy change will also facilitate development of an industrial estate in Sectors 101 and 103 in Mohali by easing the process of land acquisition for timely execution of development projects.

Under GMADA’s amended LPP, 1,000 square yards of developed residential plots and 200 sq yards of commercial plots, excluding parking, will be given in lieu of cash compensation for every 1 acre of land to be acquired from landowners for the upcoming Aerotropolis Residential Estate.

Earlier, 121 sq yards was offered instead of 200 square yards.

According to the LPP introduced for the industrial sector development for the first time, for every one acre of land, land owners will get 1,100 Sq yard of industrial plots and 200 sq yards of developed commercial plot, excluding parking, in lieu of cash compensation.

Validity of the sahuliyat certificate given to land owners opting for LPP and providing certain benefits to them for purchase of equivalent value of land, would be counted from the date of allotment of plot. The earlier validity was two years from the date of announcement of award.

With the certificate land owners can get exemption from stamp duty, besides certain other benefits/privileges when they purchase agricultural land with the sale proceeds from the developed plots they get under LPP.

The move is in response to the demand of land owners that the validity be applied from the date they are offered physical possession of the plots on the ground that only when basic infrastructure has been laid does a plot fetch its potential value.

GMADA has acquired 4,484 acres of land from 2001 to 2017. Of this, 2,145 acres has been acquired till date, through LPP introduced in the state in 2008 and amended from time to time.

The rationale behind introducing the LPP was to ensure prompt land acquisition and reduce financial burden on GMADA, as the acquisition of land through cash compensation mode is fraught with the risk of enhancement of compensation by the courts apart from it being a cumbersome and time consuming process.

GMADA is already facing the risk of paying enhanced compensation of nearly Rs 9700 crore as per the decisions of the first reference appeal in the courts.

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