Haryana CM asks GMDA to procure land instead of acquiring to save costs

Gurugram: The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority received approval to acquire land for completing stalled road and other infrastructure projects during its 10th annual meeting

Gurugram: The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority received approval to acquire land for completing stalled road and other infrastructure projects during its 10th annual meeting. However, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar asked the authority to focus on land exchange instead of acquisition as it puts less pressure on the exchequer.

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The CM asked to explore other options of land procurement such as transfer of development rights, consolidation of land, and using the e-bhoomi portal, which are relatively economical.

“Land acquisition is expensive and involves payment for enhancements later. The authority should preferably take alternative routes for land procurement so it does not become a burden on the state exchequer,” he said during the meeting.

According to a proposal submitted by the authority, GMDA needs around 537 acres of land to complete road projects envisaged under the Gurugram Manesar Urban Complex Master Plan 2031. The cost of this acquisition has been tentatively pegged at ₹5370 crore, at the rate of ₹10 crore per acre. However, the authority immediately plans to acquire 142 acres of land at a cost of ₹1420 crore to build sector and service roads in developing areas and remove bottlenecks.

According to Sudhir Rajpal, chief executive officer, GMDA the road along the CPR was required to remove the bottlenecks and provide better connectivity to residents living in developing sectors.

Rajpal also said that the authority has proposed to procure the land instead of acquiring it, as mentioned in the proposal. “We may be authorised to procure the land leveraging transfer of development rights, the Land Pooling Policy 2019, acquisition through the e-bhoomi portal, and the Consolidation of Land Act, 2017,” he said in the meeting.

A senior GMDA official on Monday said that the authority has received approval in principle to acquire land. “The procedure has not been fixed yet. It can be any of the options available to us,” he said.