New policy will make homes dearer in state

Uttar Pradesh’s new land acquisition policy will make homes dearer as this will push up the land acquisition costs for real estate developers. Besides the cost of land, farmers will get 16 per cent of the total land acquired after development.

‘‘The cost of this will get loaded on the remaining area the developer sells,’’ said R K Arora, CMD, Supertech Ltd, a Noida-based developer. If a developer buys 500 acres, he has to leave 50 per cent of the land for roads, sewerage and greens, while seven per cent is for resettlement and rehabilitation cost, and then return 16 per cent of the developed land.

Developers feel the cost of all this will get loaded on the remaining saleable area, which will increase prices of finished homes. Arora is also worried that if developers buy land directly, infrastructure development could suffer like it did in Gurgaon.

‘‘How will infrastructure development happen? If the developer buys 1,000 acres directly from farmers, there’s no focus on infrastructure development like in Gurgaon. Who will develop the roads, the sewerage, and provide power,’’ Arora wondered.

A bigger challenge will be to get consent of 70 per cent farmers for land acquisition, says Getamber Anand, CMD, ATS Greens, a Noida-based developer. ‘‘Getting 70 per cent consent will be a big challenge as few farmers can hold you to ransom,’’ he said.

Anand feels it will be better if an industrial authority or a government agency acquires land as per a master plan, and then auction the same to developers at market prices.

Developers are still waiting for the fine print to understand the implications, but they feel that industrial authorities in Noida and Greater Noida will continue to acquire land and developers will not need to acquire land directly from farmers in these areas.

UP’s new land acquisition policy could also be the basis for settlement with farmers in several villages of Noida Extension, where the Allahabad High Court had cancelled land acquisitions. After a settlement with farmers, the Greater Noida Authority is likely to file a special leave petition in the Supreme Court to stay the HC judgement.

Shakti Nath, chairman of Logix Group, welcomed the new land acquisition policy as it would facilitate land acquisition and address issues of delays associated with it.