Punjab to acquire land in Mullanpur despite high prices

Officials say the land may be acquired through the state's land-pooling scheme

The high real-estate prices in Mullanpur near Chandigarh in Punjab might not deter the state government's ambitious plan to acquire 1,700 acres for setting up an education city. Senior government officials said the land might also be acquired through the state's land-pooling scheme.

They apprehend that most farmers would opt for the land-pooling scheme of the state government which had received better response than monetary compensation. According to the land-pooling scheme, farmers get two kanals of residential plots and a commercial plot of 100 sq yards for each acre acquired.

At present, land prices in Mullanpur are hovering around Rs 1.2-1.3 crore an acre. "Prices will further shoot up once the government approves the zoning plan, as it is agricultural land," said Gurpreet Singh, a property dealer.

On the high real-estate prices, a senior official said, "The plan is very much in the offing. As far high real-estate prices are concerned, the land would be acquired through monetary compensation or through the land-pooling scheme of the state government depending upon the preference of the farmers. But looking at past acquisitions, we feel that most farmers will opt for land pooling scheme. For Eco-City Project -I at Mullanpur, out of the 419 acres acquired, 392 acres were under the revised land-pooling scheme."

For Eco-City Project-I, under the scheme, landowners got two developed plots in the upcoming estate in return for their land. Landowners preferred the plots in exchange instead of monetary compensation. Landowners argue that when the area gets fully developed, they would be able to sell the plots at much higher prices.

The upcoming education city on 1,700 acres would also have IT companies. Land rates have risen exponentially in the recent past after the state government announced the setting up of the education city.

The proposed education city has already been given in-principal approval. The state government is in the process of amending the zoning plan of the area, as it is classified as agricultural land in the village master plan. After the amendedment, they would issue a notification for land acquisition.