Launch of Amaravati, the new capital of Andhra Pradesh
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Barun
Oct 21, 2015, 10:49:48 PM10/21/15
to Property Rights in India
Prime Minister Modi will lay the foundation stone for Amravati, the new capital city for truncated Andhra Pradesh, on Oct 22, 2015. This is perhaps the most ambitious urban project since Chandigarh was built in the 1950s. The new city is projected to be about ten times the size of Singapore or 6 times the size of Chennai. But the new capital city, Amaravati, faces challenges of economic viability, funding and political opposition. And there remains the question of land.
Following is an extract on how the state government is trying to resolve the question of land from a recent article in Mint, Oct 21, 2015
Barun
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Land acquisition
The [Andhra Pradesh] state government has managed to gain consent from the majority of the landowners on whose land the new capital will be built.
To sidestep the tedious provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, which would have made the cost of acquiring land prohibitively expensive for revenue-deficit Andhra Pradesh, the state government initiated the largest ever land pooling exercise in the country.
The capital region development authority (CRDA), a body set up to plan, co-ordinate, execute, finance and promote Amaravati, took control of almost 33,000 acres from farmers who, in turn, will receive plots in the developed capital. Depending on the type of land holding, landowners will receive a residential plot measuring 800-1,000 square yards and commercial plots of 100-450 square yards.
While the capital is being built, farmers who parted with their land under the land pooling scheme will be paid an annual compensation for 10 years. The compensation would increase 10% (of the original amount) every year.
Dryland owners are eligible for Rs.30,000 per acre in the first year. Wetland owners will get Rs.50,000 per acre. In the second year, the compensation for dryland owners will rise to Rs.33,000 while in the third year, it would be Rs.36,000.
Not surprisingly, the land pooling scheme received good response from farmers because of the generous compensation scheme and the prospect of capital appreciation on promised plots.
Yogendra Kalavalapalli and R. Sree Ram in the Mint, Oct 21, 2015
Hyderabad: Hyderabad was all of 50 years old when 17th century French traveller and merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier marvelled at its wide boulevards and bridges, during one of his several voyages to India. Built on the banks of the Musi river by the Qutub Shahi dynasty, Hyderabad had a majestic city centre with a thriving bazaar.
Four hundred years later and 290km away, another Deccan dream is rising in the fertile plains of Andhra Pradesh, along the banks of the Krishna river: Amaravati.
The pet project of chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Andhra Pradesh’s designated capital spanning 7,420 sq. km, is 10 times the size of Singapore, or closer home, six times bigger than Chennai. A master plan prepared by the Singapore government envisages Amaravati as a modern megapolis—towering structures, glass facades, a central boulevard, wide avenues and footpaths, metro and riverway transport, and walkways along a 35km promenade.
Coming up between Vijayawada and Guntur towns in central Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati will be the newest state capital in the country. It is the fifth planned capital in independent India after Gandhinagar, Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar and Naya Raipur. The capital, if it indeed shapes up the way it’s visualized, will stand tall among the best cities in India, and probably the world.
In the words of Naidu, “We have built capital cities in India but there are no world-class cities. We want to create a world-class city, a smart city in true spirit... The world should talk about our capital.”
Will it happen? Or is Naidu conjuring up a utopian dream?
The complete article is available here.
Barun
Oct 30, 2015, 2:43:52 PM10/30/15
to Property Rights in India
The Andhra Pradesh government’s innovative land pooling model is not all win-win.
Written by Sreenivas Janyala | Indian Express | Guntur | Published:October 29, 2015
N Chandrababu Naidu’s land pooling scheme (LPS) to build a capital city — Amaravati — for the new Andhra Pradesh state post-bifurcation has been hailed for successfully acquiring some 33,000 acres from farmers without much protest. The fact it happened relatively smoothly, even while a national debate raged on the Centre’s Land Acquisition ordinance, has made many sit up and takes notice.
But there are still those who doubt if farmers really stand to benefit from the scheme, which envisages giving them back developed residential and commercial plots ranging from 900 to 1,700 square yards for every one acre (4,840 square yards) of land surrendered. Farmers will further receive an annual compensation of Rs 30,000 to 50,000 per acre — with a 10 per cent yearly increase —for a ten-year period.
“If the construction of the capital gets delayed, farmers will be left in the lurch. Although the government may keep paying them for 10 years, their real money is from the developed plots promised in lieu of land. The value of these plots would increase only when the capital city develops and becomes livable,” noted E A S Sarma, a retired IAS officer-turned-activist.
The farmers from whom the 33,000 acres were acquired include absentee landlords living in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Guntur or even abroad, who had given their lands on lease. Besides, there are the small farm-owners with one or two-acre holdings. “It is they, apart from tenant farmers and agricultural workers, who are faced with uncertainty. There is a big question mark on what will happen to their livelihoods with their lands gone,” Sarma pointed out.
Yet, the overall smooth acquisition has led many to view the LPS even as an alternative model of land acquisition, without diluting the consent requirement as the Centre’s controversial ordinance had sought. “Some political leaders alleged we used coercion and intimidation. But you cannot do that with so many farmers in today’s times, especially when land acquisition has become a big issue and projects have got stalled because of it. On the contrary, we were able to convince farmers about our package,” claimed Ponguru Narayana, AP’s Urban Development and Municipal Administration Minister.
The LPS package, announced by the chief minister Chandrababu Naidu on December 8, is advantageous for the state government, as its financial outgo is limited to only the annual monetary compensation of Rs 30,000-50,000 per acre. Farmers’ gain is mainly from the value accretion to the developed residential and commercial plots they are entitled to, amounting to up 35 per cent of the land acquired.
The state government has even waived-off stamp duty and other taxes in the event of their selling these plots. “Some farmers have also sought income-tax relief on capital gains, a request we have forwarded to the Centre,” informed an official.
To stave off criticism of the scheme only benefitting landowners, the state government has proposed setting up a Capital Region Social Security Fund for the estimated 12,000 displaced families of agricultural labourers and tenant farmers. Each family will receive Rs 2,500 per month for 10 years or Rs 30,000 annually, “which is roughly what they would make from cultivating 3 acres,” the official added.
According to Naidu, nowhere in the country has such a comprehensive land pooling policy and package been offered: “We have taken great care that landowners as well as tenant farmers and farm labourers benefit, and do not feel they have lost something.”
The state government will issue ‘land pool ownership’ certificates from December onwards once plotting of the capital region begins, stated the official quoted earlier. Out of the total 33,000 acres acquired, almost 8,000 acres will go back to the original landowners. Of the remaining, 15,000 acres has been set aside for open spaces, including parks, lakes, ponds and open air auditoriums. The state government’s buildings — secretariat, legislative assembly, Raj Bhavan, high court, official accommodations, etc — will come up in just about 8,000 acres.
“That is the idea of Amaravati — a green capital with lots of open spaces, walkways and parks. There can even be land for companies, banks and others wanting to establish offices in the capital region. Such allocations can be linked to say, creation of a certain number of jobs per acre given,” said Parakala Prabhakar, communications advisor in the AP government.
How do farmers themselves view this whole project?
Forty-two-year-old Bezwada Ramesh Babu of Mandadam village in Guntur’s Thullur mandal is keeping his fingers crossed. The 100 acres of wetland his family has given up would fetch Rs 30 lakh income in annual compensation alone. But the real unlocking of value will be from the developed plots to be received from the government: “I am told we will get the ownership certificates latest by March. But there is uncertainty whether the government will fulfill its promise of developing the plots and handing these to us. Also, there has been a lull in real estate activity, though prices seem to be going up again after last week’s foundation stone laying for the capital. A wetland acre now costs Rs 1.7 crore to Rs 2.4 crore”.
The same uncertainty is echoed by Umamaheshwara Rao from Thullur village, who has given 50 acres: “The main concern for us is, from where is the money for building the capital going to come from, more so when the Centre has not announced any special package or assistance to AP? Unless the capital city is built as planned, there will be no appreciation of the plots that we are supposed to get back.”
While the state government has promised to allot the residential and commercial plots to farmers as close as possible to their surrendered lands, this may, however, also have to be combined with a lottery system. “All these things are still being finalised. It would be a challenge to keep all the farmers happy,” admitted the minister Narayana.
Andhra Pradesh’s pooling scheme
The developed plots farmers are to receive under the AP government’s pooling scheme for constructing a greenfield capital is based on the type of land being acquired.
As per the package, owners of dry land having clear title documents will get 1,000 square yards of residential and 200 square yards of commercial plots for every acre surrendered. The corresponding entitlements are lower, at 800 and 100 square yards, for owners of dry assigned land.
Owners of wet or irrigated lands get a better deal. Here again, the entitlement differs between owners of clear titles (1,450 square yards of residential and 450 square yards of commercial plots) and those with assigned lands (1,250 square yards residential and 450 square yards commercial).
Dry land and assigned wetland owners will additionally receive an annual compensation of Rs 30,000 per acre per annum for 10 years with a 10 per cent hike every year. The base compensation is more, at Rs 50,000 per acre per annum, for wetland owners with clear titles, who mostly grow fruits, vegetables and high value horticultural crops near the Krishna River.
The original article is available here.
Barun
Oct 31, 2015, 3:44:05 AM10/31/15
to Property Rights in India
By PTI | The Economic Times | 28 Oct, 2015
VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh government today indicated that it would go for land acquisition to acquire about 300 acres in its capital city area in Guntur district.
The state government has pooled more than 33,000 acres in the capital area so far under its "land pooling scheme" (in which farmers are given a share in developed land among other benefits).
The move to acquire about 300 acres in Tullur mandal of Guntur district as per the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 is being done as the bits of land in the mandal are turning out to be hurdles for construction activity to be taken up soon, state Agriculture Minister P Pulla Rao told reporters.
He said 98 to 99 per cent lands in Tullur mandal have already been taken under the land pooling scheme.
The option is still open for land owners to join the land pooling scheme without the government having to invoke land acquisition, the minister added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone on October 22 for the state's greenfield capital city of Amaravati coming up in the Vijayawada-Guntur region.
The original news item is available here.
Barun
Mar 7, 2016, 9:08:55 PM3/7/16
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DECCAN CHRONICLE. Published Mar 6, 2016
Guntur: Farmers, who were angered by the inclusion of pro Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) farmers in the Land Acquisition (LA) list, locked the CRDA office at Borupalem on Saturday. The government is preparing to collect land from anti Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) farmers in villages in the Amaravati Capital Region through LA. The government has issued, for the first time, the notification for a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) survey in Amaravati region, which is necessary prior to LA.
The land which was not given under LPS in Nelapadu, Krishnayapalem, Borupalem and Abbarajupalem villages of the Amaravati Capital Region will be collected under LA: the notification for the SIA survey was therefore issued to the four villages. Earlier, the government had issued orders excluding pooled lands under LPS from SIA survey.
It may be recalled that when CRDA tried to collect lands through LA Act earlier, intervention of Jana Sena founder and Telugu cine hero Pawan Kalyan forced the government to switch to land pooling scheme instead of acquisition.
The CRDA will collect 19.55 acres in Abbarajupalem, 94.66 acres in Krishnayapalem, 39.81 acres in Nelapadu and 23.62 acres in Borupalem. It has also put together a list of land parcels with survey numbers which will be acquired under LA. The lists were put on display at the CRDA’s competent authority offices at the four villages and on the CRDA website.
Reactions were swift after notifications were issued and pooled farmers pointed out that their land was being included in LA despite their having offered those lands to CRDA under LPS. The farmers claimed that they had already taken the annuity amounts, but CRDA had issued the notification to acquire their lands under LA. The enraged farmers, led by Ch. Chandrasekhar Rao and G. Bullabbai, rushed to the CRDA competent authority’s office, seeking a clarification, but failed to get proper information and therefore locked the office.
The Tullur police rushed to the spot. CRDA higher officials assured the people that they would review the LA lists whereupon the farmers unlocked the doors of the office. Similarly, landowners and farmers of Krishnayapalem claimed to have offered all their land under LPS and alleged that there were anomalies in the preparation of the LA lists.
The original news item is available here.
Barun
Apr 13, 2016, 9:15:20 PM4/13/16
to Property Rights in India
By Express News Service Published: 13th April 2016
HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh government told the High Court on Tuesday that it had decided to re-classify the lands in the capital region of the state for the purpose of paying compensation to farmers under the Land Pooling Scheme and also under the Land Acquisition Act.
A division bench of the court comprising acting chief justice Dilip B Bhosale and justice P Naveen Rao was hearing two petitions filed separately by K Anil Kumar, a farmer from Krishnayapalem in Mangalagiri mandal in Guntur district having lands under Kishtayyapalem lift irrigation project, and 55 farmers under the Rayapudi lift irrigation scheme in Tulluru mandal in Guntur district, seeking directions to the authorities to consider all the lands drawing water from both the lift irrigation schemes as Jareebu.
Additional advocate-general of AP Dammalapati Srinivas submitted that the government intended to re-classify the lands and the earlier orders which were issued classifying the lands as Jareebu and dry lands of the region would not be enforced. He urged the court to dispose of the petitions by recording his statement.
Senior counsel E Manohar, appearing for the petitioners, pointed out that the government had assured the court earlier that it would withdraw the earlier order but till date those orders were not withdrawn and urged the court not to dispose of the petition till issuance of fresh orders for re-classifying the lands.
At this juncture, the AAG said the earlier orders would not be enforced and no plots would be allotted to the petitioners as per the earlier orders and the interim orders granted in these petitions earlier would not preclude the government from allotting plots and pay compensation to the farmers as per the new classification, and urged the court to adjourn the case for hearing after summer vacation.
While considering the request of the AAG, the bench adjourned the hearing to June 14.
The original news item is available here.
Barun
May 20, 2016, 11:01:14 PM5/20/16
to Property Rights in India
The New Capital Region of Andhra Pradesh: The Capital Region Plan and Report
(March 2015)
The complete report is available here.
By Express News Service Published: 21st July 2015
K. Venkateshwarlu, Hyderabad, The Hindu, October 28, 2015
Here is all you need to know about how the land pooling process, the most crucial part of the project as it impinges directly on people/farmers involved, was cracked
By: BV Mahalakshmi | Amaravati | Indian Express | October 24, 2015
Barun
Sep 11, 2019, 1:27:21 AM9/11/19
to Property Rights in India
Lack of political capital starves the capital city project in Andhra Pradesh
Five years ago, the dream was to develop Amaravati as the most liveable city. The land pooling approach was presented as a model that could overcome land acquisition hurdles.
However, this utopian dream has evaporated with change of political guard in the state, with the defeat of Chandrababu Naidu, and the rise of YS Jaganmohan Reddy. The new CM has dismissed the project as “personal extravaganza” of Chandrababu Naidu to fulfill his own political ambitions. The project has been stalled by the AP government citing lack of fund and mounting debt.
And with the Centre losing interest in it, both the World Bank and the ADB have stopped funding the project.
Here are some relevant news items.
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With YS Jagan Mohan Reddy taking charge as the chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu's vision for Amaravati as a greenfield capital city has been stalled by the AP government.
The New Indian Express, August 13, 2019
Jagan's silence triggers a volley of questions
20,000 workers have now left their colonies
September 10, 2019
Let’s Give New Andhra Govt Time on Amaravati Project, Says Singapore Minister
In 2014, the then Andhra government had sought Singapore's help in creating the master plan for Amaravati project.
PTI, Updated:September 9, 2019
https://www.news18.com/news/world/lets-give-new-andhra-govt-time-on-amaravati-project-says-singapore-minister-2302695.html
Amravati: From utopia to uncertainty
The Wire, August 18, 2019
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