E-Paper
GMADA sets ball rolling to acquire land in Sector 101
Social impact assessment being carried out ahead of acquisition of 500 acres of land at two Mohali villages for industrial development
Moving ahead with the acquisition of 500 acres of land for the development of industry in Sector 101, the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has started the social impact assessment of the land.
In July last year, the Punjab cabinet had given the nod to GMADA’s new land pooling policy for the industrial sector.
Social impact assessment (SIA) is a process of identification, analysis and assessment of land to be acquired for development of industry. It analyses, monitors and manages the intended and unintended social consequences, both positive and negative, of planned interventions (policies, programmes, plans, projects) and any social change processes invoked by those interventions.
GMADA has already issued a notification under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act for the said land.
A senior GMADA official, on the condition of anonymity, said, “We have started the SIA process for land acquisition in two villages, Manuli and Durali. Industrial plots will be sized 550 square yards and 1,100 square yards.”
On July 22 last year, for the first time, the state government had introduced a land pooling policy for industrial sector development, according to which for every 1 acre of land, land owners would get 1,100 square yards of industrial plots and 200 square yards of developed commercial plot, excluding parking, in lieu of cash compensation. Earlier, the land pooling was only for residential housing schemes.
As per the new policy, the validity of the “Sahuliyat Certificate”, given to land owners opting for the land pooling policy and providing certain benefits to them during purchase of equivalent value of land, would be counted from the date of allotment of plot to the land owner. The previous validity was two years from the date of announcement of award.
The certificate entitles a landowner to get exemption from stamp duty, besides certain other benefits/privileges when he/she purchases agricultural land with the sale proceeds from the developed plots obtained under land pooling. 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 the basic infrastructure has been laid does a plot fetch its potential value.
Between 2001 and 2017, GMADA acquired 4,484 acre land; 2,145 acres through the land pooling policy, which was introduced in the state in 2008, and has been amended from time to time.
GMADA is currently facing the risk of paying an enhanced compensation of nearly ₹9,700 crore as per the decision of the first reference appeal in the courts.
