Panel favours land assembly strategy for capital

It suggests the govt. prioritise level of land aggregation that will be required for different purposes. In its report, the panel opined that medium to low level of land consolidation would be required for neighbourhood facilities like residential use zones, local commercial use zones and civic amenity sites, among others.

The Sivaramakrishnan Committee has favoured adoption of a diversified land assembly strategy to get access to different levels of land aggregation in line with the requirements for building a new capital to the State.

The panel has suggested that the government prioritise level of land aggregation that would be required for different purposes. Accordingly, the government could prioritise Core Administrative Zone that would require a consolidated land parcel and city level facilities (particularly public and semi-public use zones including parks, open spaces, commercial zone, transportation facilities etc). The city level facilities would require high-level of land consolidation, but land could be consolidated into a few larger land parcels.

In its report, the panel opined that medium to low level of land consolidation would be required for neighbourhood facilities like residential use zones, local commercial use zones and civic amenity sites, among others.

The committee, which studied the models suggested by the government favouring either outright land acquisition or PPP based one, said both the methods of land assembly would be affected by the change in base price of lands. Making a mention about the Vijayawada-Guntur stretch , the panel said the existing real estate listings in these area has already exhibited a sharp spike in prices, which exceed the land cost assumptions considered in the note prepared by the Department of Town and Country Planning.

“The land acquisition method could quickly become financially unfeasible (with associated difficulties in gathering consent and completing the acquisition process). Therefore, may need to be used judiciously in cases where aggregated land is a priority,” the panel said, adding “land acquisition may be very expensive in Vijayawada- Guntur area." Assessing the models contemplated by the government, the panel said the effective costs of land accruing to government ranged from Rs. 1.96 crore to Rs. 8.49 crore an acre and this indicated the need for a careful analysis before the choice of a greenfield site or areas where land prices are expected to be very high.

Political feasibility

The panel admitted that land consolidation at this scale had not been attempted successfully through Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation process yet and the delays and disputes that could come up would have to be settled to satisfy the courts which might, in turn, mean project delays. The report said it would be necessary to consider political feasibility of different levels of land sharing with farmers/owners along with considering the financial aspects.