The Future of Urban Development: A Case Study of Delhi and Mohali's Land Pooling Initiatives

By- Shurbhi Kumar[1]

Abstract

One of the most used urban planning tools includes Land Pooling policy where people willingly give their land to the government for collective development and later on, it is returned to the legal owners after a small deduction. 

This initiative has been widely practiced by the Delhi Development Authority and hence, Delhi’s land pooling policy is greatly discussed in the following article. To contrast and to deeply understand its relevant features, Greater Mohali’s land pooling policy has also been discussed and compared to Delhi's policy. The distinction between the two policies has been made and an attempt to identify the areas of improvement has also been explored in this article. 

Introduction

Land Pooling is a policy through which the owners of the land or the farmers who have lands are encouraged to pool or submit their land holdings to the government as land parcels so that its infrastructure can be developed collectively as a larger cohesive plot. After the development of the land is complete, it is returned back to its original owner while some part of the land is deducted to compensate for the development made on the land. This policy can also be said as a legal instrument of the modern world, being adopted for the readjustment and improvement of land so that necessary infrastructures as well as amenities can be provided. [2] [3]

Its objective is to develop land’s infrastructure, reduce urban sprawl, increase affordable housing and altogether, to maintain efficient land assembly. Such policy can prevent unplanned development and inadequate infrastructure to be implemented in areas undergoing rapid urbanization.

Therefore, Land Pooling can be said to be a valuable tool for promoting sustainable and equitable urban development.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Land Pooling

This scheme has many key benefits that it brings along with it.

As against the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, it is not forceful acquisition of land, but voluntary pooling of land parcels which is also comparatively cheaper. The owners of the land are the stakeholders in the entire process of implementation of this policy that ensures almost no hindrance. They also retain the original title of the land and the sacrifice made by losing a small portion of land is compensated by better accessibility to their land, more amenities available on their land, and ultimately, the process leads to land development that is much more efficient than the archaic strategies. Land Pooling also allows enjoyment of costs and benefits mutually by the government and the landowners. Also, land pooling has led to less or no legal disputes as the land is handled by the government during this process; this has also led to the increased value of land. 

Therefore, land pooling is a policy that ensures land protection from the government and efficient returns to the respective stakeholders. However, a few disadvantages of this policy have been observed over the years.

The policy has been slow in implementation and slow in development of land as it involves a significant level of complexity for it requires proper planning and coordination amongst the government and various stakeholders. Compensation issues and disparities in land valuation have been flagged by the landowners, which also makes room for corruption in the process. Landowners are also, often hesitant in giving their land for pooling in fear of losing their entitlement to the property and social displacement. 

Hence, the policy has room for improvements in areas like transparency, administration and effective governance to address the potential reasons that might be coming in the path of this strategy. 

How is the Land Pooling scheme different from the Land Acquisition Act, 2013?

The Land Pooling scheme was released in September 2013 while the Land Acquisition Act (also known as the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.) was also introduced in 2013 and commenced from 2014. However, the Act was received with many difficulties and questions. 

The Act states for a land acquisition where rehabilitation, relocation and settlement will be provided in return. It is a compulsory acquisition for ‘public purposes’ and this term is considered highly vague in its meaning. In contrast to this, land pooling policy provides for willingly surrendering of land for its development that will be returned to the original owners except for a small portion of it. The rehabilitation provided under the Act is also not proper while the policy does not require rehabilitation for the owners. Also, the compensation received under the Act is based on the market value of the concerned land while under the policy, it is evaluated on the basis of the increased value of the land after the development takes place. Thus, making it more profitable for the landowners who give their land for pooling. Other problems like forced eviction, absence of social impact assessment and non-development despite acquisition as well as stricter rules has led to the Act’s criticism. [4]

Delhi’s Land Pooling Policy [5]

Land pooling policy has been widely adopted by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and has proved to be a successful model for other states as well. Delhi saw rapid urbanization and increase in population in past decades which led to the adoption of this policy on 11th October, 2018 as it was found that Delhi’s infrastructure was insufficient to all the residents. Also, lands in Delhi were fragmented that made it difficult for the government to undertake large-scale projects.

Therefore, the DDA notified about adoption of the Land Pooling policy in 2018 and has been in effect since then. The guidelines and features[6] of the policy are-

• The policy applies to 104 villages in the urban extension areas of Delhi, including Zones J, K-I, L, N, P-I, and P-II. 

• These are divided into 109 sectors in the whole region, wherein every sector measures an average of 250-350 hectares in size and can accommodate 80,000 to 1 lakh residents.

• It aims to build sustainable housing, new social and physical infrastructure with advanced technologies.

• As per the Approved Regulations, pooling will be done under two categories, I and II. the former one with land above 20 hectares and the latter one with 2 to 20 hectares. The 60% of the land under Category I and 48% under Category II will be returned to the landowners while the remaining will be retained by DDA.[7] 

• Approximately 200 square kilometers of land with an area of 20,000 hectares of land are set for development to cater for future development of the Capital City. The estimated new houses to be constructed during the next 20 years is 17 lakhs of which 6 lakhs is exclusively for EWS having the occupancy of 85 lakhs.

Thus, the DDA’s land pooling policy enables an individual, several individuals or a developer to collaborate and use a piece of land for planning, servicing and subdividing all at once. The ultimate aim is the desire to produce a larger area for future developments and to make reasonable returns for each of the land owners. The policy also really strives to prevent the displacement of the population and to achieve the quick realization of infrastructural and recreational zones.

Greater Mohali’s Land Pooling Policy[8]

For similar reasons, the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) came up with its own land pooling policy as it experienced sudden urbanization, leading to failure of the existing infrastructure to serve the large population. As a response to the influx of people and infrastructural deficits, it adopted the land pooling policy in 2020-21 for GMADA Area.

In order to achieve this, the government put in place land pooling whereby land owners would be engaged in the development of local infrastructure for instance the constructing of roads. Like any other development plan, the holders of the land under the plan can opt to develop it for residentials or for commercial use. They can select the size of their residential plots based on the land taken, but commercial plot sizes are pre-determined and allocated starting with the largest. It is decided by a lucky draw. It can be undertaken individually or in clusters with landowners developing the minimum standard scheme document to suit their purpose. If their land taken is between 10 and 40 square yards, they will be given a booth instead of plot and will be charged for the same before the construction. Special terms are that anybody owning one acre or less can take cash or a Special LOI which can be sold later at a possible fee regardless of whether they select cash or not they will receive some plots later. Moreover, the money earned from the sales of common land will be taken to the village, the landowners who sell their land and invest the proceeds in other lands in the state shall have priority in electricity supply and if the proceeds are used to purchase other lands, then some taxes shall not be charged.

Thus, Greater Mohali’s land pooling scheme can be considered as one of the most suitable and promising models for implementing large-scale urbanization that would include locals as active participants in the process of changing their neighborhoods. The scheme gives a choice on how the land can be used, the sizes of the plots, and the compensation to be paid so as to address the individual landowner’s interest together with the general infrastructure needs. Also, the provisions on revenue sharing, taxation, and priority services also reveal the government’s flexibility in making this development process fairly advantageous to every stakeholder that is involved.

Comparison of Delhi’s and Greater Mohali’s Land Pooling Policies

Both the policies are similar on the lines of purpose and objectives but their features are distinct of each other. 

In DDA’s policy, the landowners do not need to pick a size of the plots as is the case in GMADA’s policy, rather they give their own land under the two categories which is divided on the basis of the land’s area. Also, in GMADA’s policy, there is a separate regulation for commercial and residential plots (Lucky draw system, size of shops) while it’s not the same for DDA’s policy. There is total voluntary submission of land to the government under Delhi’s Land Pooling policy.

Greater Mohali’s land pooling policy allows landowners to sign up individually or together; no such provision is found in Delhi's land pooling policy. GMADA’s policy also includes the provision of ‘Booth(s)’ when the land signed up for pooling is between ten to forty square yards, which is built by the government but at the expense of the landowner. DDA’s policy has its own area and zones divided for infrastructure building and has no special provisions like these as such. Also, DDA’s land pooling policy does not have the mandate of Special Letter of Intent (LOI) while the GMADA lists it as one of the guidelines in its land pooling policy.

Areas of Mutual Improvement

Greater Mohali’s land pooling policy has several features that can enhance Delhi’s land pooling policy and vice versa is also true. 

The outstanding features of GMADA’s policy is flexibility, as it allows the landowners to choose the size of the plot, or a choice between residential and commercial, or providing options of compensation or a Special LOI; it has an outline for schematic commercial plot allocation and includes additional benefits like electricity is new locations, tax exemptions, etc. that make the scheme more lucrative. Also, as the revenue earned from the land is directed towards the village, thereby ensuring that the focus of the policy remains the local community and welfare of its people. Therefore, to make Delhi’s land pooling policy more effective and widespread, it should be made more flexible so as to address the needs of the people in relation to their land and also introduce new incentives to attract more people to engage in land pooling policy.

The unique features of Delhi’s land pooling policy is its scheme of guidelines that aims to bring a large-scale urban development as it is preparing to meet the growing urbanization. It also has a more comprehensive set of infrastructure to develop and provide amenities to the landowners in the form of the city's master plan. It is thus working towards creating sustainable urban spaces in populated areas. Also, the public-private partnership model of Delhi’s policy in land pooling has also led to more efficient and modern development. Hence, GMADA’s policy can be made better with a vision of making it more sustainable for urban development, blueprint for a large-scale of population growth and increased infrastructure including a private-public model that could cover the inefficiencies of the government.

Conclusion

Therefore, the land pooling system has been observed as a useful tool in organizing the urban settlements in India. It has been adopted by Delhi, Greater Mohali, Rajasthan, some parts of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, etc. Globally as well, land pooling policies have been widely adopted for land readjustment. 

The land pooling policies of Delhi stands as a model for other states with some room for improvement. Likewise, the Greater Mohali’s land pooling projects are for certain areas of GMADA’s jurisdiction and also have scope for executing a large-scale program. Overall, these projects have enhanced the economic, social and environmental condition of urban housing. Although they come with their own set of challenges and benefits, they can be modified and adapted to the needs of the particular area.

Citations

1.  First year law student, National Law University, Delhi

2. Land pooling schemes: A viable alternative to land acquisition, https://www.99acres.com/articles/land-pooling-schemes-a-viable-alternative-to-land-acquisition.html (last visited Aug. 29, 2024).

3. Akinyode, B.F. A critical review of land pooling technique for sustainable urban renewal in developing countries. GeoJournal 87, 3265–3275 (2022).

4. What is Land Acquisition Act, 2013?, https://www.99acres.com/articles/what-is-land-acquisition-act-2013.html#What_does_the_Land_Acquisition_Act_state (last visited on Aug. 29, 2024).

5.  Land Pooling, https://dda.gov.in/land-pooling/about (last visited on Aug. 29, 2024).

6. DDA land pooling policy, https://naredco.in/notification/pdfs/DDA%20land%20pooling%20policy.pdf (last visited on Aug.29, 2024).

7. Legal Eye Newsletter —January 2015- July 2015, Regulations for operationalisation of the Land Pooling Policy of Delhi Development Authority (“DDA”) Approved, https://www.manupatrafast.in/NewsletterArchives/listing/Legaleye%20Sethdua/2015/Legal%20Eye_Newsletter%20—January%202015-%20July%202015.pdf (last visited on Aug.29, 2024).

8. Information of Greater Mohali Area Development Authority, https://gmadamohali.in/land-pooling-policy/#:~:text=Landowners%20can%20sign%20up%20for,to%20pay%20for%20it%20first. (last visited on Aug.30, 2024)