Forest land for capital may be dearer

State is likely to pay Rs. 8 lakh per hectare

August 23, 2014 12:19 am | Updated 12:19 am IST - VIJAYAWADA:

The cash-strapped Andhra Pradesh will have to brace up for another inevitable expenditure if it is expecting free forest land for the construction of infrastructure in different parts of the 13 districts. On an average the State is expected to pay about Rs. 8 lakh per hectare according to a senior official from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

This apart, the government will also have to bear the afforestation cost of double the area of the land acquired.

Though there was no request from AP government for the allocation of forest land, the State is evaluating several stretches of land for erecting structures related to smart cities etc. While the total forest land available in the united AP was more than 64 lakh hectares, the State has got over 38 lakh hectares to its share after bifurcation.

According to the official, the existing legal framework warrants State government pay the Net Present Value (NPV) fixed by the Supreme Court.

“There is no exemption for payment to environment ministry but the cost may vary depending on the density of the forest in question,” the official said. For instance, a forest with 0.4 per cent density would cost Rs. 5.8 lakh per hectare and the government should be prepared to pay Rs 11 lakh plus if the forest is about 0.8 to 1 per cent.

Market experts opine that the government is happy to pay the Central ministry as the private land in the same region costs more than ten times to that of forest land.

The forest land available in the Vijayawada, Guntur, Tenali and Mangalagiri (VGTM) region, which is under active consideration for capital city, has a density of 0.4 to 0.6 per cent and it approximately costs Rs. 8 lakh per hectare according to an estimate by the official.

The land in Nallamala and surroundings is thicker with 0.8 to 1 per cent density. Besides, it is also a tiger sanctuary.

However, the permissions and processes related to acquisition and final orders will take not more than four months according to the government official as the Central government considers AP’s case as a special one.

Given the situation, there are two processes viz., ‘Deviation’ and ‘De-notification’ available for the State and Central governments to acquire the forest land. Deviation process is most likely to be taken up as De-notification involves Supreme Court’s nod and is time consuming.

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