DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

The Punjab Cabinet on Monday gave its nod to the Land Pooling Policy with Cabinet minister Aman Arora asserting that not even a single yard will be forcibly acquired from land owners. The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, was held here.

After the meeting, renewable energy minister Arora slammed the opposition parties for allegedly misleading people about the state government's Land Pooling Policy for the past several days.

Arora claimed that there is no better Land Pooling Policy than this one, not only in the state but also in the country.

Pointing towards the opposition parties, Arora said they were trying to mislead people about the Policy that farmers' land will be forcibly acquired by the state government.

"I want to make it clear that not even a single yard will be acquired (by the state government)," he said, adding that the Cabinet approved the Land Pooling Policy.

Under this policy, land owners can give their land either to the state government or a builder or they can develop land on their own, he said.

In the first phase, this Policy will be implemented in 27 big cities, the minister said, while speaking to reporters here.

Attacking the previous governments, Arora alleged that they framed such policies which only benefited the land mafia and promoted vested interests.

Giving details, Arora said under this Policy, a land owner will be given a 1,000 square yards of residential plot and a 200 square yards of commercial plot in fully-developed land in lieu of one acre of land.

He further said, if anybody contributes nine acres of land, he will be given three acres of land for developing a group housing. It meant that one-third of pooled land will be returned to the land owner, he said.

If multiple farmers pool together 50 acres for the government, they will receive 30 acres of fully developed land in return, he further said.

Asked about the timeline for giving residential and commercial plots to land owners who offer their land, he said, the whole process will take not more than one and a half years and until then, farmers will be given Rs 30,000 per acre.

Opposition parties and some farmer groups have been targeting the AAP government, claiming that it has proposed to acquire 24,311 acres of land in Ludhiana to develop new urban estates.

The state government had earlier said the Land Pooling Policy was designed to foster transparent and planned urban development across the state.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office had said that the new Land Pooling Policy aims to involve landowners, promoters, and companies as stakeholders in the development process.

The scheme has been rationalised to benefit small and marginal farmers significantly, offering more options to landowners, which will boost group housing and planned development, ultimately benefiting a common man.

Under this policy, there will be no exploitation of farmers, said the spokesperson.

In another decision, the cabinet approved an increase in External Development Charges (EDC), Change of Land Use charges (CLU), license fees and other charges applicable to real estate promoters. The CLU charges, EDC, and license fees will be increased by 10 per cent annually, compounded from April 1, 2026, said the spokesperson.

The Cabinet also approved the partial surrender and partial cancellation of licenses issued to colonies under the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act (PAPRA), 1995, as well as the partial cancellation of approvals granted to industrial park projects. A policy in this regard was notified on March 10, concerning the surrender of licenses for developing colonies under the PAPRA Act and approvals for industrial parks.

This decision allows for partial surrender of licensed areas, subject to certain conditions, and partial suspension or cancellation of licenses for such projects.

To encourage allottees and bidders of residential, commercial, and other property plots to make lump-sum payments of 75 per cent of the total amount, the Cabinet approved a series of incentives.

A 15 per cent discount on the cost of the plot will be offered to allottees who make a lump-sum payment. This measure is expected to ensure consolidated revenue for the state government, while also reducing the number of defaulters, said the spokesperson.

(editor@dailyworld.in)