Amendments proposed to make land pooling mandatory

What is the News?

The Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs has said that amendments will be made to the Delhi Development Act, 1957, to speed up the Land Pooling Policy.

What is land pooling?

Land Pooling Policy means that government agencies consolidate parcels of land and design or develop it with infrastructures like roads, schools, hospitals, community centres and sports facilities on part of the land and then returns a portion to the original owners who can later sell it or execute housing projects with the help of private builders.

What is Delhi Land Pooling Policy?

Under Delhi Land Pooling(DLP) policy, 60% of the land will be used by the owners or developer entity for the purpose of developing residential and commercial facilities while 40% of the land will be surrendered to service providing agencies, such as the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for infrastructural developments.

Benefits for Landowners: Although the land returned to the original owners will be smaller in size, they will have access to infrastructure and services developed by DDA.

Problems faced in the Policy: According to a senior DDA official, the agency was facing hurdles in convincing landowners to participate, as most of them were unsure of the outcome of the policy.

What are the amendments proposed to the Delhi Land Pooling Policy?

Firstly, the pooling of land for owners who are yet to express their willingness becomes mandatory once the participation rate reaches the minimum threshold of 70%.

Secondly, the amendment will give the Central government power to declare pooling mandatory — even if the minimum threshold of 70% is not achieved.

Source: This post is based on the article “Amendments proposed to make land pooling mandatory” published in The Hindu on 9th Mar 2022.