Guidelines for Amaravati 2.0 land acquisition issued

First phase to be completed in next three years

Santosh Patnaik

Amaravati

Andhra Pradesh Government has issued rules for acquisition of land for development of Amaravati 2.0 under the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS)-2025.

Keeping in mind the procedures followed when nearly 34,000 acre was acquired for the first phase in 2015 during the earlier stint of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, the Department of Municipal Administration and Urban Development has issued the guidelines for the second phase expansion mainly to meet the requirement for development of an international airport like the Shamshabad Airport in Hyderabad, a sports city to host big events like national games and ASIAD and a designated cluster to allot developed plots for green industrie.

At present, tenders are being finalised for the first phase of development. The Asian Development Bank has sanctioned $768.8 million as a result-based loan for a green and smart capital city. HUDCO has already cleared a loan of Rs.11,000 crore. The World Bank has approved $800 million integrated urban development like roads, public transport and flood mitigation systems.

MAUD Secretary S. Suresh Kumar in a GO stated that land and cash compensation will be given to the land-owners based on the category they belong to. Earlier, MAUD Minister P. Narayana had defended the decision to acquire additional land to make Amaravati a futuristic sustainable and smart city as per the vision finalised by the Chief Minister.

The coalition is taking up construction of various buildings including the GAD tower, new Secretariat, quarters and Andhra Pradesh High Court as well as internal and external roads at a cost of over Rs.1 lakh crore so as to make the first phase of the riverside capital city operational in 2028.

During the Cabinet meeting held recently, approval was given for acquisition of land under LPS. Grama sabhas will be held soon even as an exercise has been launched by the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) issue notification for the land acquisition by the month-end.

The Cabinet meeting, in a significant development, resolved to acquire lands owned by the people in the CRDA limits for at least six years. To ensure fairness in the process, those who owned the land after 2019 will not be eligible for surrender of the land. Like the LPS-1, developed plots for residence or commercial with cash compensation will be given to the land-losers.

In the latest order, the government clarified that lands will be acquired with mutual consent. The government has already announced plans to develop the airport in 5,000 acres, sports city in 2500 acres and allot 2500 acres for green and smart industrial zone. The acquired land will also be used for developing infrastructure like ring roads and railway lanes.