Punjab cabinet passes land poling policy for industrial sector

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], July 22 (ANI): The Punjab Cabinet led by the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday approved an amendment to the Land Pooling Policy for Residential Sector and its extension to the Industrial Sector in the jurisdiction of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).
The move comes as GMADA is set to acquire 1,680 acres of land in the first phase for the development of the Aerotropolis estate.
The policy change will also facilitate the development of industrial estate in sectors 101 and 103 in SAS Nagar (Mohali) by easing the process of land acquisition for the timely execution of development projects.
"Under the amended land pooling policy of GMADA, 1000 square yards of developed residential plots and 200 square yards of the commercial plot, excluding parking, will be given in lieu of cash compensation for every one acre of land to be acquired from landowners for the upcoming Aerotropolis Residential Estate," read a release from the state government.
"Further, as per the new policy, the validity of the 'Sahuliyat Certificate', given to the landowners opting for land pooling policy and providing certain benefits to them during the purchase of equivalent value of land, would be counted from the date of allotment of plot to the landowner," the release added.
The earlier validity was two years from the date of announcement of the award. The certificate entitles a landowner to get an exemption from Stamp Duty, besides certain other benefits/privileges when he purchases agricultural land with the sale proceeds from the developed plots that he gets under land pooling.
The move is in response to the demand of landowners 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.
"The rationale behind introducing the land pooling policy was to ensure prompt land acquisition and reduce the 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 being a cumbersome and time-consuming process. GMADA is currently already facing the risk of paying enhanced compensation of nearly Rs 9,700 crore as per the decisions of the first reference appeal in the courts," the release stated further. (ANI)