In our last post we explained what and why of the Land Pooling Policy. Today we will try to dig deeper into other salient features of the Delhi’s Land Pooling policy.
Under this Policy DDA will be undertaking urbanization of around 24,000 hectares of publicly owned land through land pooling to accommodate a population of around 50 Lakh in outer Delhi zones, namely, P-II, L, N etc.
DDA will be bringing all this land under one umbrella after converting it from its current Agricultural status to R-zone. This will comprise of High Density areas which should get to see high-rises and Low density residential areas also known as country homes.
In this section we will be discussing about the latter one.
‘Country homes’ is an exciting concept for anyone willing to have a lavish space at an affordable price within the capital. 23 villages have been earmarked under LDRA development. Also, 47 villages falling under green belt will be a part of this group.
DDA introduced new norms for owning farm houses in the capital via S.O. No – 1190 (E), on 10th May, 2013.
Key Points on LDRA / Country Homes
This will keep number of dwelling units in these areas in check and will make sure that the periphery of Delhi remains green & eco-friendly.
With all been said, there is just one more thing to add; Delhi is offering a limited opportunity to all to own a bungalow/farmhouse in the heart of the country.
In our next section/post, we will be discussing about the next feature of Land Pooling Policy, i.e., high density residential development.
The land-pooling policy was notified on 5 Sep, 2013; and regulations for its operationalization were approved by UD ministry in 2015. All we are waiting for is the declaration of 95 villages as urban.
Why Land Pooling?
Till now, Delhi had been at the mercy of DDA for the development of new housing units; or the city was being burdened by unauthorized construction by converting agricultural land into unauthorized colonies. DDA had never been capable of meeting the housing requirement of the capital and neither were they able to meet the construction standards been set by the builders. Besides, land acquisition is no longer a preferred mode for accumulating large chunks of land for bringing up of planned township. There have been several occasions where such projects had to face farmer agitations at some stage.
Yes, Land-Pooling is the answer we had been waiting for to meet the growing housing and infrastructural needs, and to turn the capital into the city of the future.
What is Land Pooling?
DDA’s land pooling policy envisages public-private partnership in land assembly and development in Delhi. Delhi’s Land-Pooling is a concept where small chunks of land, owned by group of owners, will be assembled for the development of infrastructure and smart sub-cities, as per the provisions of the Delhi Development Act 1957. After the development of land, DDA will redistribute the land after deducting some portion as compensation towards infrastructure costs.
Land owners, let they be farmers, societies, or builder groups, will be considered as Developer Entity (DE) by DDA. DE having 50 acres (20 Ha) or more land will get 60% land back while others having over 5 acres but less than 50 acres of land will get around 48% of land back from DDA. The remaining land would be used by DDA for infrastructure development per MPD 2021.
DDA in association with the govt will act as a facilitator with minimum intervention and will catalyze speedy, integrated planned development. Govt/DDA will have regulations in place for building standards , delivery time etc, but, will otherwise give a free hand to the Developer Entities on pricing etc.
Through this policy DDA will be able to develop the urban extension area, measuring roughly 24 thousand hectares. These areas will be self contained with all facilities and infrastructure.
Prospective buyers in and around Delhi have been struggling since a while with a very important question of whether they should invest in the NCR region or should wait for the Delhi’s Land Pooling policy to become operational. It has been all about the most preferred choice for home seekers in and around Delhi.
Since last few years, things have not been rosy for people who have somehow managed to pull in enough resources to buy some property in Delhi/NCR region. NCR region has been in a state of correction after witnessing India’s largest real-estate boom in the residential market. Builders are staring at a piled up inventory of unsold homes and that has led to dipping sales.
Economic slowdown has had an impact on all industries including real-estate sector. Then there had been other factors, such as delays which took a toll on the end user’s confidence. Per a survey done last year, construction for over 4 lakh flats was running over 2 years behind schedule. This has led Investors to go on their back foot causing a further setback and has acted as a roadblock in the pace of construction.
During the explosive early period when real-estate market in NCR was bullish, many builders passed reserves from one project into newer ones eyeing an exponential growth. This too led to the current financial crunch.
After witnessing the up’s and downs of the NCR real-estate market, Delhi is all set to join the bandwagon and should convincingly grab the spot for the most preferred/prominent real estate hub in North-India.
In the current offerings, sellers are refusing to lower their prices, and buyers are refusing to meet the asking prices for property. This has resulted in a standstill in the property transactions since the buyers are willing to wait further for the prices to become more affordable. Delhi’s Land Pooling Policy is for sure an answer to this deadlock which has all the ingredients for dwelling a true smart (sub) city right within the heart of the country and will offer smart homes to the smart buyers at affordable prices.
Though, the DDA’s ambitious land pooling policy for the capital has been in doldrums since its inception and has recently became victim of state-center apathy because of political-technical differences, will get to rise beyond expectations once it’s been through the current phase.
Stay in-tune for further updates on the Land Pooling policy which should soon step out of the paper on the real ground.
This Friday, on 30th September, Federation of Housing Societies and Developers under the banner of Delhi Dehat Vikas Munch, staged yet another demonstration, this time on Parliament Street, near Jantar Mantar to urge DDA, LG, State and Central government to find an early resolution to the stalled Land Pooling Policy.
The policy was notified in Sep, 2013; and the guidelines for operationalisation of it were approved by the Urban Development Ministry on May 26, 2015 with five amendments. Following which, the then DDA Vice-Chairman, Balvinder Kumar, had said, “The ball is in the Delhi government’s court”.
The actual implementation of the policy hinges on the state government’s decision on declaring 95 villages as development areas and 89 of them as urban villages. The housing authority had earlier requested to it to issue a notification in this regard.
Delhi govt had demanded 12-15% from the pooled land for carrying out development projects. DDA, on the other hand, after considering the Delhi govt’s demand, had found it infeasible to be met.
No visible signs of negotiations on this from either side forced farmers and other stakeholders to hold a protest. They tried to bring attention of all agencies and common man towards the bright side of the policy and how is it going to have a very positive impact on everyone’s life. Stating that, they urged all to have a look at the issue with a sense of urgency.
Land Pooling Policy is based on public-private partnership model and seeks to make landowners partners in the development of zones. It is divided into two categories: (I) for land measuring 50 acres and above; and (II) for 5 acres to less than 50 acres. In the first category, the developer entity will have around 60 percent share, while DDA will retain 40 percent. In the second category, DDA will retain 52 per cent while rest will go to developer entity.
Centre, State Tussle on LPP has become the reason for holding up of Delhi’s humongous potential of creating affordable homes. Group of experts tries to dissect the issue between State and Centre Government to get to the root cause and a probable solution to the stand-off.
DDA officials, after considering the Delhi govt’s demand, have found it infeasible to be met. This comes out as another setback to Delhi’s Land Pooling Policy. The AAP govt had asked DDA for 12-15% of the pooled land to it for free for development projects.
Central government has agreed to give land at Re 1 per annum to the state government. Also, the transfer of gram sabha land has already been approved. Stating the same, DDA has said that the government’s demand for share in the total pooled land is not valid.
With this DDA has urged the AAP govt to expedite the implementation of land-pooling which has been stuck for quite some time now. The policy was notified in year 2013 and the operational guidelines were issued in year 2015. Since then the policy has been stuck for clearance from Delhi Govt.
The policy is considered to be important for providing housing to all. City’s ever growing housing demand and absence of any such planned approach to it had been responsible for mushrooming of such large scale unauthorized clusters.
It will be a big game changer once the Land pooling is approved by the Delhi Government and is implemented by DDA. Though, it’s easier said than done. Even after the villages are declared as development area by the Delhi govt, DDA might need more time to start the pooling process.
Finally, after a very long silence, there has been a word from Delhi Govt on the Land Pooling policy. Delhi govt agrees to clear land-pooling policy. The AAP govt has demanded a share from the pooled land amounting to 12-15% of DDA’s share for carrying out development projects.
Per earlier news from govt officials /spokesperson(s), state govt was reviewing the policy at their end and they took considerable time before making an official statement.
Delhi govt has at times mentioned about difficulty in getting land from DDA for development work for which they are supposed to pay the authority. Per officials, govt would need land for building schools, stadiums, electrical sub-stations etc in the newly planned sub-cities.
Now the ball has rolled back to DDA’s court and they may respond to it after reviewing the Delhi govt’s demand.
Even with this, there are still some outstanding issues, such as, govt has yet to waive of stamp duty on to and fro transfer of land parcels to DDA.
First notified in year 2007, review of the policy began in year 2014 and since then the policy has missed several deadlines. Its understandable to an extent given the number of steps involved in the finalization process, which includes collecting suggestions/objections from the public, discussing them out in the DDA meeting, sending proposal to UD ministry etc. With almost everything else in place, more work needs to be done on the remaining two chapters, namely, transportation and environment.
Under transportation, TOD or Transit Oriented Development is the focus point to bring in new infrastructure parallel to public transport routes to reduce travel time.
A separate chapter on environment has been kept in the planning to focus on Delhi’s greenery and to enforce green norms during all phases of implementation.
DDA okays draft regulations in their final meeting and this pushes the policy further towards getting converted into reality. Further objections / suggestions would be invited from public via notification for a period of 45 days. Though, for the regulations to get alive it would have to go through a final lithmus test at the hands of UD ministry.
Under the new policy, minimum land requirement has been lowered from 3 Ha to 2 Ha. 95 Villages would be converted into development areas and 89 into urban villages. This would release around 70k Ha of land for urbanization.
This will not only bring relief to the real estate industry, people willing to own property at affordable prices within the capital, but will also take away the hassles involved with such grand projects which usually goes with large scale land acquisition. With all been said, its still a long road ahead.
Highlights:
a) Minimum requirement comes down to 2 Ha ( * 2.5 = 5 acre)
b) The landowners, who would participate in the policy will get back 40-60% of developed land, back from DDA.
c) Landowners with fragmented land pieces, will be returned developed land by DDA at a single place, in the vicinity of the largest land holding in the same zone or within 5 kms.
d) 15% of FAR will be reserved for EWS category.
