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U.P. needs 1.5-2L acre land bank for trillion-dollar economy target
Those aware of the development said four models being pushed for land procurement include land pooling, resumption of gram samaj land and leveraging surplus land available with various departments
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The Uttar Pradesh government is following four models to procure and develop land banks to implement investment proposals to make the state a trillion-dollar economy.
It requires development of a land bank of 1.5 lakh acres to 2 lakh acres.
“Yes, there is a need to develop a land bank of about 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh acres. We are following four models to procure land and the state government has made funds available to various development authorities to acquire land for the industry,” said chief secretary Manoj Kumar Singh.
Those aware of the development said four models being pushed for land procurement, besides land acquisition, include land pooling, resumption of gram samaj land and leveraging surplus land available with various departments. “We are developing land banks on both sides of expressways. We are also proposing use of Gram Sabha land for the purpose,” said principal secretary, infrastructure and industrial development department, Anil Sagar.
The state cabinet approved a land pool policy in 2020 and amendments based on feedback have been proposed to the same. The land pool policy provides for owners of large chunks of land to volunteer for land pooling.
“We are working on provisions for land pooling and the same will be shared once approved by the state cabinet,” a senior officer said.
The Uttar Pradesh government proposes to develop Special Investment Regions (SIRs). These include the ones proposed to be developed at Aligarh, Unnao and Prayagraj-Chitrakoot. About 80,000 acres of land has been identified for the SIRs. The state government is facing challenges at several places in the acquisition of land due to opposition from the farmers.
“The state government has not increased Circle Rate in Lucknow since 2015. Several farmers protested acquisition of land at Sultanpur. The state government needs to revisit the Circle Rate before going ahead with the acquisition of land. Moreover, the land acquisition law provides for consent of 70 per cent of farmers and this needs to be followed,” said Alok Verma of Bharatiya Kisan Union, Lucknow.
The state government has acquired about 21,860-acre of land and about 47,555 acres is under various stages of acquisition. Bundelkhand Industrial Development Authority has acquired a large chunk of land. So, have various other industrial development authorities. The state government has 5811-acre of developed land available for allotment. In addition, it also has about 348 acres of bulk land available for allotment to the industry. Various development authorities are acquiring and developing land and a target to develop about 25000 acres of land has been set for 2024-25.
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Four models being pushed for land procurement, besides land acquisition, include land pooling, resumption of gram samaj land and leveraging surplus land available with various departments, those aware of the development.
The Uttar Pradesh government proposes to develop Special Investment Regions (SIRs). These include the ones proposed to be developed at Aligarh, Unnao and Prayagraj-Chitrakoot. About 80,000 acres of land has been identified for SIRs.
