Amendment in DDA Act proposed to speed up land pooling implementation

The land pooling policy, which was notified in October 2018, will be implemented in 95 urbanised villages on the outskirts of the city. Close to 17 lakh dwelling units are expected to be constructed in the next two decades in the land pooling areas namely Mundka, Baprola, Najafgarh, Alipur, etc.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has proposed changes in the Delhi Development Act, 1957, for effective implementation of the land pooling policy, which is aimed at meeting the city’s housing requirement in a planned way. Officials aware of the matter said a proposal regarding draft changes in the Act has been sent to the Union housing and urban affairs ministry.

In 2019, the DDA started the work in land pooling areas. (Amal KS/HT file photo)

The land pooling policy, which was notified in October 2018, will be implemented in 95 urbanised villages on the outskirts of the city. Close to 17 lakh dwelling units are expected to be constructed in the next two decades in the land pooling areas namely Mundka, Baprola, Najafgarh, Alipur, etc.

DDA officials said changes in the Act are needed to give it legal provisions. A senior DDA official aware of the development said, “There are issues related to land parcels that have not been pooled-in in sectors where we have reached the percentage of land required to implement the policy. Currently, there is no provision to get these land parcels. If this issue is not addressed, development in land pooling sectors can’t happen.”

The other issue is related to stamp duty, as the policy requires the transfer of land twice between the owner and developer. As per the land pooling policy, landowners in these 95 villages will form a consortium and pool their land parcels. After planning, 60% of the land will be returned to the landowners or developed by the consortiums for residential, commercial and public and semi-public use.

Sabyasachi Das, former planning commissioner with DDA, said , “The present Act doesn’t provide any legal backing for land pooling. Therefore, suitable changes are required in the Act as land pooling is one of the key development models for planned development. How will development work be carried out if the owner of one land parcel refuses to participate in the process? It is difficult for government agencies to acquire land now. A solution has to be found to address this issue.”

As per the policy, there will be two land transactions—one when the landowner gives the land to the consortium and the second when the developed land is returned to the landowner. “The cost of land will unnecessarily increase by 15-16% if stamp duty is charged on both the land transactions. There is a need to have a provision to exempt stamp duty twice. It should be charged once when the developed land is returned to the owners,” said a DDA official.

These are some of the issues that need to be addressed. “Some other changes have also been proposed as it is an old Act. We have sent the draft changes to the ministry,” said a senior DDA official. The ministry of housing and urban affairs did not respond.

In 2019, the DDA started the work in land pooling areas. A senior DDA official said, “Over 6,900 hectares of land has been pooled or registered with DDA for the policy by owners.”

As per the policy, “In order to ensure unified planning, servicing and subdivision/ share of the land in a sector as per Land Policy and Regulations, a minimum of 70% contiguous land of the developable area within the sector, free of encumbrances, is required to be pooled to make the sector eligible for development.”

While the DDA has got 6,930 hectares of land parcels registered with it, it has not got 70% contiguous land in any of the land pooling sectors so far.

In 2015, the then Union urban development ministry (now ministry of housing and urban affairs) had constituted a committee to revisit and redraft the Delhi Development Act, 1957. While the report was submitted to the ministry, no decision was taken on it, said a senior DDA official.