Land for Andhra capital to be acquired in three months

The Andhra Pradesh government will acquire 30,000 acres of land in 17 villages of Guntur district in three months for building the state capital.

The Capital Advisory Committee at its meeting here Thursday said the land will be acquired through the land pooling system (LPS) after convincing the farmers.

Seeking the cooperation of people in building what it calls "people's capital", the panel assured that the farmers will be benefited from the land acquisition process as they will get transferable rights on developed land.

Agriculture Minister P. Pulla Rao, who is a member of the committee, told reporters that farmers and other land owners whose land will be acquired will get annually Rs.25,000 per acre for 10 years. The incentive will be increased annually by Rs.1,250 per acre. The farmers will then be allotted land through lottery system.

The land to be acquired include that on which banana, chillis and cotton are being grown. The acquired land will be distributed in six sectors.

The government will also spend Rs.75 lakh to Rs.1 crore for development of each acre. The panel also assured that the villages and houses will be integrated into the capital city.

It was also decided that the existing Vijaywada Guntur Tenali and Mangalagiri Urban Development Authority (VGTM-UDA) will be dissolved and in its place the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) will be formed.

The government had last week announced that the capital will be ready in five years.

It also declared that that if the landowners refuse to part with the land, the government would opt for land acquisition.

Under the LPS, 50 percent of the land would be earmarked for common assets.