Land Bill: House may cost more

NOIDA: The draft Land Acquisition Bill, which may have a lasting effect on the many upcoming and proposed development and infrastructure projects in Noida and Greater Noida — already in the grip of the land row fire, is evoking mixed response.
The Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill seeks to balance the need for facilitated land acquisition for various public purposes while addressing the concern of the farmers and the landless.The other stakeholders involved in the land controversy, however, contend that the bill, if passed in its current form, could only derail the development process, especially infrastructure and township projects.
Expressing concern over the proposed restrictions on the acquisition of fertile land, land for private companies and private purposes, the real estate industry alleged that though still early to predict, these could result in an increase in prices. “In the long run, it could result in an overall rise in the land cost,” said Shakti Nath, chairman and MD, Logix group.
“We need to keep land and housing costs as low as possible to make it a viable proposition for the end-user,” Nath said. “The provisions of the draft bill need to be reconsidered as it could lead to haphazard development and the emergence of a land mafia which corners farmland and sells it to private companies.”
Group Captain (Retd) V Dayal, who has recently invested in two flats for his family in Greater Noida, said: “This bill will have a cascading effect and the concept of ‘affordable housing’ will become extinct. Moreover, we end-users will have to bear the inflated cost, which will be piled on to the developer who, in turn, will pass it on to us.”
“The proposed pricing for land acquisition in rural areas seems impractical as this would mean an escalation in housing prices by almost 6%,” said another home buyer, whose flat is located in the disputed Noida Extension-Greater Noida area.
The chairman and CEO of the Noida Authority, Balvindar Kumar, however, told TOI the bill would be a welcome step for public purposes. “It will mean that the Authority will acquire land only for roads, bridges, etc while the developers will have to obtain land directly from the farmers to develop it for residential, institutional and commercial use,” said Kumar.
But another Noida Authority official said: “Since most of the land in the Gautam Budh Nagar belt is arable, if this draft becomes law, there will be scarcity of land for housing and other commercial projects.”
Logix MD Nath said the proposed law would hamper growth tremendously. “The draft bill also proposes that the ‘land-use cannot be changed’. This would once again be very restrictive for future development of an area.”
While many developers feel the proposed compensation requirements are unfair to them and end-consumers, the farmers are keeping their fingers crossed and are feeling elated at the proposed law. “It is a good bill. Finally, the government is addressing our issues. We hope that this draft land bill comes into effect,” said farmer leader Manoj Tyagi in Noida.
While a builder said the land acquisition bill could lead to emergence of a land mafia, the Noida Authority chairman said it would be a welcome step for public purposes like roads and bridges.