Paper looks at the existing scenario of urban planning in the state of Punjab, growth of urban population, quantum of land required, prevailing schemes for sourcing land, emerging roadblocks in sourcing land and options for sourcing land at an affordable cost including making landowners as co-parceners in sourcing land

1. Options for Sourcing Land for Sustainable Urban
Development in the State of Punjab
*Jit Kumar Gupta
Introduction
As a finite resource, land remains one of the most vital, critical, valuable and unique gift of
nature to mankind. As originator and promoter of mankind, land is also credited to be creator and
sustainer of vast range of flora & fauna, vegetation and eco-system existing on this planet earth.
Land as supporter of human settlements and entire range of built environment, provides
platform on which all activities and basic human needs, including food, clothing shelter, living,
working, leisure, travel, industry , trade & commerce etc, are performed, met and sustained.
Land has been recognized, as basic human necessity contributing substantially to human
livability and productivity. Land remains vital and critical for rational development of human
settlements. Considering role and importance of land in the context of human growth and
development, coupled with its limited availability, making available developed land, in adequate
quantity at most affordable price, remains greatest challenge for promoting planned and rational
development of the human settlements in general and urban settlements in particular.
With land having multi-dimensional manifestation, its impact on providing appropriate quality
of life remains most pronounced. However, in the face of rising human numbers and
concentration of people in urban area coupled with limited availability of land, making available
land on defined norms for meeting different human needs has emerged as the greatest challenge
for planners and administrators. Limited availability of land can be concluded from the fact that
land occupies merely 20% area of the planet earth, while rest of 80% area is consumed by water.
Out of the available land resource, only a small portion of land can be used for human habitation.
Globally large number of land related challenges have emerged among nations due to mismatch
arising from population to be supported and land available with them. There are nations which
have high land- man ratio, whereas on the other hand there are countries which are placed in
difficult situation due to poor land-man ratio. With merely 2.4 percent of the global land and
housing more than 16.7 percent of the world’s population, India, falls in the category of countries
which are placed at a considerable disadvantage due to poor land-man ratio. With nation’s
population placed at 1210 million in 2011, estimated to grow to 1400 million in 2031, 1600
million in 2051 and urban population projected to 600 million in 2031 and 800 million in 2051
as against 378 million in 2011 India, as a nation, faces greatest challenge of rational
development of human settlements in general and urban centers in particular due to enormous
rise in population , rapid urbanization and limited availability of land. State of Punjab is no better
placed so far land man ratio is concerned with 1.53% land, holding 2.29 % of India’s population.

2. Land Related Issues
Land, as basic platform of all human activities, is considered most critical and vital component
of urban growth and development. Despite the fact success of any program related to urban
development is contingent on availability of adequate land, still majority of urban centres have
not been able to increase the supply of serviced land leading to land cost becoming irrational,
excessive and unaffordable. Intervention made by the public agencies has not produced the
desired effect in achieving the objective of supply of adequate serviced land at affordable price,
to meet the needs of the living, working, trade& commerce, industry, entertainment, recreation,
institutions at the local level. Accordingly, over the years availability of land has emerged as the
greatest roadblock in providing appropriate pattern of planned and rational urbanization. Major
issues related to urban land include;
 Degradation of Land; Despite the fact that land is the gift of nature to mankind and it is
the critical resource on which human survival is contingent, still unfortunately land has
been treated irrationally and with contempt . Despite the fact India , as a nation, is highly
land stressed having merely 2.4% global share holding 17.3% of population, still 29% of
the land resource falls under the category of ,’Degraded Land’( land which has lost its
natural productivity). Reason attributed to large scale degradation of land are largely
manmade and human activities which include overgrazing, excessive use, water
logging,, over-drafting of ground water, deforestation, urbanization, tillage practices,
besides factors like climate change and natural disasters. Dissertation is a world
phenomenon impacting 250 million people and accounting for one third earth surface.
Accordingly, it will be in the interest of India to make sure that entire degraded land
resource is rehabilitated by adopting appropriate strategies so that , it can help in
promoting economy and employment in the county, because India still largely rural with
68.9 5 population dependent on agriculture. Government of India is planning to restore
50 million hectare of degraded land in next 10 years. This land will have the capacity to
generate employment for 75 lakh people in the rural areas besides contributing
enormously to the Indian economy. UN Convention to Combat Desertification(UNCCD)
is already looking at different strategies and helping nations to overcome this
phenomenon which is threatening global economies and very existence of human beings.
 Monopoly of Parastatal Agencies; Land market in past has been controlled by the
public sector and government had the virtual monopoly. With inefficient legal framework
and lack of adequate resources available with the parastatal agencies, supply of the
serviced land has become highly skewed. Excessive governmental controls have
restricted the role of private sector in bringing adequate land into the urban market. In
fact major problems in the land market have genesis in lack of understanding on the part

3. of urban managers of the operational intricacies of the land market. Accordingly, most of
the land available in urban areas is both unauthorized and unserviced. This has lead to the
creation of a parallel urban land market, beyond the control and ambit of any regulated
system. The share of informal land market has been steadily increasing, making most of
the land available in urban market un-serviced and city growth becoming illegal. Treating
land as a commodity along with new paradigm of land speculation has lead to large tracts
of urban land remaining vacant for number of years. With land prices going up steadily,
capacity of the government to intervene effectively in the land market has been
considerably eroded
 Limited Role of Private Sector; In-efficient functioning of urban land market can be
largely attributed to the limited involvement of private sector in land assembly. Involving
private sector in sourcing land for urban development becomes critical due to limited
availability of resources with public agencies and ever growing demand for serviced land
in urban sector. For ensuring adequate supply of serviced land and making the urban land
market more efficient, there is need to have a paradigm shift of the role of public sector
from “sole suppliers”, to that of “facilitator,” by giving increased role to the private and
co-operative sectors. State should primarily focus on removing all roadblocks , creating
conducive and supportive environment to enable private and co-operative sectors to play
their designated role in pooling land for urban areas.
 Restricting Development Controls; Planning tools like Master Plans, Development
Plans, Development controls and building by-laws have emerged as the greatest
hindrance in the operation of land market. Method of specifying future use of land in the
planning system for every piece of land has restricted the supply of land in the urban
market. The intent, content and scope of various planning tools adopted to define the
future growth agenda of urban centres needs to be critically looked into. They require
objective study, review, modification and redefinition to make them promoters and
supportive of orderly growth and efficient functioning of land market. Building bye-laws
and development controls must be redesigned to promote efficient use land by permitting
optimum level of floor area ratio, height, ground coverage, parking etc.
 Irrational Legal Framework; With land prices going up steadily, capacity of the
government to intervene effectively in the land market has been considerably eroded.
Complex system of land transactions including heavy cost involved in the process has
further restricted the supply of land. Land acquisition through Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement
Act, 2013, has emerged a major hurdle in acquisition of land. With changed mechanism
of calculating land compensation besides including rehabilitation and resettlement of the
land owner as integral part of land acquisition process , has made land acquisition not
only most expensive and cumbersome but has also created perpetual liability for

4. acquiring agency. This has rendered most of the Development Authorities incapable of
supplying serviced land in the urban market at an affordable price through the mechanism
of compulsory land acquisition.
 Restricted Supply of Land; Development Authorities have also made land as the sole
mechanism of making huge profits. In the process only a limited supply of developed
land is made periodically. Considering the ever increasing demand for the land, the prices
of released land go up considerably. Moreover pricing mechanism adopted by parastatal
agencies for land also makes the land unaffordable to most of the urban poor. Successive
increase of reserve price on which land is released also makes land beyond the reach of
the poor. Mechanism of disposal of land through open auction has eased out the urban
poor from the land market. Even when certain land meant for urban poor is released in
the market, due to wrong targeting, land falls in the hands of the upper income groups.
The restricted supply of serviced land coupled with its high pricing has edged out the
urban poor from the urban market due to their low affordability resulting in illegal
occupation of public land leading to unauthorized, haphazard and unplanned
development of urban areas.
 Absence of Urban Land Record in public domain; Majority of land related problems
in the urban areas have their roots in the absence of the availability of proper record of
the land falling in the urban areas, fragmentation of land and small land holding. In the
absence of proper land record, ascertaining correct area, ownership status, existing
encumbrances and mortgage status of land parcel cannot be deciphered correctly, which
normally leads to disputes arising in the land transaction. Principle of,’ Buyer Beware’,
made applicable in the land transaction puts entire onus on the buyer to ensure that entire
gamut of ownership must be checked before buying the property. Accordingly, it will be
desirable that record of all land parcels falling in the urban area is prepared and put on
public domain, so that it is available to public at large. Large number of frauds and
fraudulent transactions are largely the outcome of non-availability of the land related data
in the public domain.
Basic issues in urban land; In the Indian context most of the damage to rational growth
and development of urban centers is the outcome of the operational inefficiency of urban
land market which has not been able to ensure supply of right quantum of serviced land at
right place, at right time, at right price and to right people. Basic issues identified by the
National Seminar on Future Cities, related to land in India have been enumerated as
under :
i) Despite increased demand due to cumulative effects of demography & economic
growth, supply of serviced land has not increase proportionately.
ii) Due to inadequate supply of serviced land, its prices have increased rapidly making it
unaffordable for most of the urban dwellers.

5. iii) Due to critical shortage and high pricing, haphazard and premature exploitation of
peripheral lands has taken place.
iv) Due to out-pricing of the urban poor from the land market and the inadequate supply
of legal and affordable sites for shelter, proliferation of squatter settlements continues
with the consequent problems of haphazard growth and congestion in un-serviced
areas.
v) Land use controls applicable for planning and development have hampered the issue
of affordability, particularly for the larger majority of the urban poor.
vi) Existing legal and regulatory framework adversely affected the functioning of land
market resulting in slow expansion of infrastructure and services. This has created
conditions for unwarranted increase in land and housing prices in larger cities..
vii) Land in the use of government and private owners is often locked up in inefficient
uses resulting in reducing supply of land.
viii) Land speculation as a phenomenon has highly distorted the functioning of land
market.
ix) Poor land related information system and high transaction cost has made the urban
land both scarce and high priced.
x) Long drawn legal proceedings and consequential increased compensation severely
limited the capacity of public agencies to acquire large parcels of land under Land
Acquisition Act, 1894.
xi) Non-involvement of private and co-operative sector in land acquisition and
development has drastically reduced the supply of services land in the market.
xii) Planning tools and planning mechanisms have hampered severely the process of
planned development of urban centers.
State Of Punjab
At the zero hour of 1st March, 2011, when urban India for the first time in the demographic
history recorded higher addition of population in absolute number as compared to rural India,
population of the state of Punjab stood at 2,77,04,236 persons of which 1,73,16,800 resided in
12,729 villages and 1,03,87,436 made their home in 217 urban settlements. Accordingly, 37.49%
people lived in urban centers whereas rural population accounted for 62.51%. State recorded
higher level of urbanization as compared to India, where the figure stood at 31.1%. State of
Punjab followed the national pattern of low land man ratio having only 1.53% of geographical
area housing 2.29% of the country’s population
Looking historically at the prevailing trends of population variation in the state during 1901-
2011 period, it can be seen that during this period, state population increased merely by 3.7
times (7.5 to 27.7 million),whereas urban population multiplied more than 11.5 times (0.9 to
10.38 million), indicating rapid urbanization in the state. However, rural population grew only by
2.6 times (6.61 to 17.32 million). In 1901 when every 8th person was an urbanite, in 2011 every
3rd person came to live in the cities/ towns. The trend of urbanization was slow in the first half of

6. century when urban population merely doubled (0.93 to 1.98 million) in the space of 5 decades
(1901-1951). However, it picked up in the post-independence era and urban population grew by
more than 5 times (1.98 to 10.38 million) during last 6 decades (1951-2011). In absolute terms,
increase in urban population recorded during last 11 decades was of the order of 95.53 lakh
persons whereas level of urbanization increased merely from 12.39% to 37.49% . However, last
decade ( 2001-11) witnessed slowing down of both in increase in level of urbanization and
addition to urban population in absolute terms, as compared to the decade 1991-2001. The
increase in level of urbanization slowed down from 4.40% to 3.54% whereas addition in urban
population declined from 22.52 lakh to 21.42 lakh in absolute terms during the same period
despite state recording highest increase in number of urban settlements from 157 to217. Table
showing the trends of urbanization , number of urban settlements, urban population, percentage
of urban population, decennial growth and annual exponential growth rate for the period 1901-
2011 is given in table below;
Table-Trends in urbanization – Punjab 1901-2011
Census
year
Total
number
of UAs/
Towns
Total
population
Total urban
population
Percentage
of urban
population
Decennial Growth
Absolute Percent
Annual
exponential
growth rate
(urban)
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
1901 76 7544790 934766 12.39 - - -
1911 62 6731510 813224 12.08 -121542 -13.00 -1.38
1921 59 7152811 869526 12.16 56302 6.92 0.67
1931 66 8012325 1168413 14.58 298887 34.37 3.00
1941 75 9600236 1657415 17.26 489001 41.85 3.56
1951 110 9160500 1989267 21.72 331853 20.02 1.84
1961 106 11135069 2567306 23.06 578039 29.06 2.58
1971 106 13551060 3216179 23.73 648873 25.27 2.28

7. 1981 134 16788915 4647757 27.68 1431578 44.51 3.75
1991 120 20281969 5993225 29.55 1345468 28.95 2.58
2001 157 24289296 8245566 33.95 2252341 37.58 3.24
2011 217 27704236 10387436 37.49 2141870 25.98 2.35
*Source: Census of India 2011
As stated earlier, state of Punjab recorded a population of 2,77,04,236 in 2011. During the
decade 2001-2011, population of state increased by 34.54 lakh, out of which addition to urban
population was of the order of 21.42 lakh (62 %). Number of urban centres recorded a sharp
increase from 157 to 217 during this period. Concentration of population in urban areas of
Punjab is very high as compared to rural areas. Villages recorded low density as compared to
higher density in urban areas placing Punjab among densely urban populated state in India.
Looking at the prevailing trends of urbanization, it is expected that by 2021 projected population
of the state would be around of 320 lakh and 370 lakh in the year 2031. Considering the
urbanization level at 42% in 2021 and 48% in 2031, urban population would be around 135 lakh
and 178 lakh respectively and decadal addition to urban centres would be of the order of 31 lakh
during 2011-21 and 42 lakh during 2021-31 period Thus annual addition to urban population
would be 3.1 lakh during 2011-21 which would go up to 4.2 lakh during 2021-31 period.
Assuming the fact that urban area will have a gross density of 100 persons per acre and 50% of
increase in urban population will be absorbed in the existing urban area, the requirement for
additional land to take care of the addition to urban population would be of the order of 15,500
acres(6200 hectares) for the year 2021 and 21,000 acres (8400 hectares) for the year 2031.
Accordingly, state has to prepare a roadmap to ensure the availability in the urban sector of this
land for rationalizing the urban development process and making provision of shelter and other
supporting infrastructure on the prescribed norms so as to ensure quality of life to all urban
residents, both existing and future. For sourcing this land, state has to look at different options
which are detailed below.
Options for Sourcing Land; Land is generally owned by individuals, institutions, corporate,
state and parastatal agencies. Accordingly, state of Punjab will have to tap different sources and
explore innovative options for making land available for urban development. For sourcing land
from landowners, options for the state and development authorities would be to go either for
compulsory acquisition or purchasing land by negotiation on agreed price or by making land
owners co-parceners in the urban development process and sharing its benefits. Land available
with parastatal agencies including state, development agencies, urban local bodies, Improvement
Trusts etc at the local level, which is not being put to use in an optimum manner, also needs to be
leveraged for meeting the needs of urban population. In addition, land which lies unused due to
changing function and fabric of the cities, belonging to individuals, corporate sector, industry,
institutions etc, can also be recycled to meet the needs for shelter, trade and commerce,
infrastructure etc. Private sector has major role to play in supplying developed land for urban
development, by permitting them sourcing land directly from farmers/landowners on negotiated

8. price and then using the same for developing licensed townships/colonies based on prescribed
norms and standards. In addition, innovative methods like bartering the raw land with developed
land and using the mechanism of Transfer of Development Rights and Accommodation
Reservation can also be used for making land available for urban uses and creating urban
infrastructure at local level. Various options available for sourcing land in the state of Punjab for
urban uses would include;
• Compulsory Acquisition of land
• Purchasing land by Negotiation from landowners
• Bartering Raw land with Developed Land/Land Exchange
• Land Pooling and Land Distribution
• Granting License to private Colonies set by developers
• Optimum Utilisation of vacant Government Land
• Recycling the derelict land in urban areas.
• Transfer of Development Rights
• Accommodation Reservation
Compulsory acquisition of land; Prior to enactment of Right to Fair Compensation and
Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, majority of
land sourced by parastatal agencies was by using the mechanism of Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
However, with the enactment of new law, land acquisition has become not only difficult and
time consuming but also expensive because new law involves in addition to payment of
compensation at higher rate for the land acquired , rehabilitation and resettlement of the land
owners. Parastatal agencies are feeling reluctant to acquire land under the new law due to lack of
resources and the liabilities they are likely to incur on perpetual basis, both for itself and the
allottees of the land thus acquired. This option for sourcing land for urban development in the
state seems to be remote because whenever land is compulsorily acquired, it hurts interest of land
owners, deprive them not only means of livelihood but also their source of income. Landowners
also sometimes lose their residences which require rehabilitation. In majority of cases
landowners feel they are not adequately compensated. Accordingly, compulsory acquisition of
land is invariably opposed by the landowners and has led to long drawn litigation and opposition.
In view of the above, it can be safely concluded that land made available through the process of
compulsory acquisition will be minimal and will require parastatal agencies to explore options,
other than compulsory acquisition, for sourcing land for urban development at the settlement
level.
Involving Private Sector; Considering the limitations of the public sector in land assembly
arising out of new law coupled with limited availability of financial resources, it becomes
necessary to encourage the private sector in large-scale assembly, development and disposal of
land to supplement the efforts of public agencies. In order to encourage private sector in
sourcing land for urban development, state of Punjab has already put in place an enabling and

9. supportive legal framework in the shape of The Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act,
1995, which provides for registration of promoters and builders engaged in the process of land assembly,
development of residential /commercial/industrial townships and construction of flats besides sale of
plots/flats in the state. In this process developers after getting registered under the Act is permitted to
assemble land from the farmers/landowners; obtain permission to change the land use in accordance
with the provision of the Master Plan from the competent authority; prepare the plan based on the
provisions of the Act and norms prescribed for the infrastructure and services by the authority; obtain
approval of the project from the authority in the shape of the license granted; undertake sale of plots/sites
to the perspective buyers. Developers are also required to make provision for plots/flats for the
economically weaker section of society based on the norms prescribed under the law and instructions
issued by the government from time to time. In this process, large number of colonies has already been set
up in the state with many more opting for the option prescribed in the law. Under the process,
considerable amount of land has been brought under urban development and number of plots have been
made available to the perspective buyers. In addition, the Act has given impetus to construction of large
number of residential flats, making large addition to housing stock in the state. Developers have not
only contributed substantially to the orderly growth and development of urban centers but have
also made available large number of plots for the urban poor at an affordable price. However,
despite distinct advantages offered under the provision of Act , the process remains largely
confined to the major towns in the state and the area around Chandigarh, Mohali, Zirakpur,
kharar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Bathinda etc. Majority of small and medium towns have
not been benefitted from the process because of the low demand, lack of awareness and low
return on the investment. Time taken for the approval process of obtaining license has also acted
as a deterrent. High government charges levied for change of landuse, internal development,
external development, licensing and scrutiny besides furnishing bank guarantee have also not
found favour with majority of promoters. High land values prevailing in the state has acted as
major disincentive to the developers to set up colonies in the urban areas. In the process, majority
of colonies have come up in the rural areas due to lower land values but having little connectivity
with the urban centres. These colonies remain uninhabited to a large extent and donot meet the
prime objectives of promoting planned development of urban areas. In order to leverage the
potential of this Act for sourcing land through private sector, it will be critical to rationalize,
review and redefine the entire process of licensing, charges levied by the government besides
creating awareness among the developers in the small and medium towns besides making the
process of licensing more effective and efficient.
Regenerating private land; Large chunks of corporate and private lands are locked in
inefficient uses in the urban areas in the shape of closed industries/offices/institutions/derelict
buildings etc. These lands, despite being located in prime areas serve no useful purpose. On the
contrary they become eye-sore and hotbed of criminal activities. In order to make their optimum
use, it is essential that such land parcels are brought into urban market and used for meeting the
requirements of urban settlements Making use of these land parcels for urban development will
not only help in making available land for meeting the city needs of shelter, infrastructure,
institutions, trade and commerce, creating open spaces but will go a long way in generating

10. adequate resources for urban development. These lands can be taken up for planning and
development by development authorities and the urban local bodies on revenue sharing basis.
Optimum Utilization of Vacant Government Lands; State, central, urban local governments
and parastatal agencies are known to be biggest landholders of most valuable land parcels in the
urban areas. City of Chennai was found to have public agencies land holding over 30 per cent
of the urban land excluding the land under the control of housing boards and development
authorities. World Bank funded study found that public ownership of land in Ahmadabad was of
the order of 32 per cent of the developed or developable land area.The value of this limited land
was found to be more than enough to fund Ahmadabad’s infrastructure needs for two decades.
Similar situation has been observed to be prevailing in the urban centres of the state of Punjab.
To make optimum use of the government owned lands, state of Punjab has already launched a
scheme called, ‘Optimum Utilization of Vacant Government Lands (OUVGL)’, under which all
unused, under-used and potential public lands are being identified, planned, developed and
disposed off for housing/commercial purposes. This has not only generated resources for the
state for infrastructure development but has also brought considerable amount of land into the
urban market .Despite distinct advantages the process of using these land has been slow and
cumbersome, which needs to be accelerated. In order to speed up the process, these lands need to
be identified in each urban settlement on priority and time bound basis duly supported by a well
defined policy framework to bring such land in the urban market.
Taxing Vacant Urban Land; Speculation in land as a phenomenon has gained enormous
currency. This process has put on hold large quantity of serviced urban land from being used for
urban development process. Land remains locked and unused for considerable time. In some
cities of Punjab, more than 25-30% of urban land remain unused. In certain cases even
agriculture is practiced in large chunks of land within urban limits.. In order to bring this land
into the market, it would be desirable to make provision of levying tax on the owners of such
land. The tax liability should be heavy so as to act as deterrent for keeping the land vacant. This
would serve dual purpose of land being brought into urban market and also generating resource,
which can be utilized for funding the urban infrastructure.. PUDA has imposed extension fee on
the vacant plots after three years of allotment @ 2% of current allotment price. This has resulted
in rapid construction on plots lying vacant for number of years besides generating resources. In
order to ensure that urban land is put to optimum use and precious agriculture land is not lost in
the haze of urbanization, state should critically look at the mechanism of defining municipal
boundaries so as to minimize conversion of agriculture land. In fact, extension of municipal
limits should be an exception rather than rule and must be done only in deserving cases where
land is actually required for urban uses.

11. Land Pooling and Plot Reconstitution Schemes; Land Pooling and Plot Reconstitution/ Land
Pooling and Readjustment, are the techniques used for promoting efficient, sustainable and
equitable land development in the urban context.
Scheme has found universal application for
sourcing land for urban development, because of
the distinct advantages scheme offers as an
effective alternative to land acquisition. Concept
has been used successfully in various countries
of the world for more than two hundred years
including Japan, Republic of Korea and India in
recent years. Scheme has been found to be more
equitable; self-financing; makes land for
infrastructure available without cost; treats
landowner as partners in planning and
development process; eliminates cumbersome process of land acquisition. It is known to be
highly transparent with landowner retaining majority of land besides providing much higher
returns to landowner. In addition, scheme generates large resources for the urban local body and
enables planned urban expansion. Land readjustment has been found to works best when
implemented in medium and metro-size areas having potential for urban development. Concept
of land pooling and land readjustment revolves around assembling small rural land parcels into
a large land parcel; undertake a detailed planning and making provision for infrastructure in a
planned manner and then return the reconstituted land to the owners, after deducting the cost of
the provision of infrastructure and public spaces by the sale of some of serviced land and sharing
the benefits of enhanced land prices.Concept does not involve land acquisition and treats
landowners as partners in urban development process. The original landowners are provided
plots with reshaped area, which, although smaller in size have access to infrastructure and
services. Financing of scheme is carried out through levying betterment charges due to planned
development and infrastructures and sale of reserved plots. However, several important
prerequisites are required for successful implementation of land readjustment which inter-alia
include supported by the state/ municipal governments; creating proper and supportive legal
framework in the shape of rules, regulations and guidelines to ensure fairness in the system;
designating agency for Land pooling at local level with powers and authority to coordinate and
get assistance from various government departments; creating an efficient and accurate system
of land registration and cadastral system ; availability of sufficient number of skilled and highly
dedicated professionals/negotiators at the local level; availability of objective and well-trained
land valuers; high degree of public/private cooperation; majority of landowners supporting the
use of technique; framing scheme on time bound basis; putting in place adequate checks and
balances for ensuring transparency in scheme formulation and valuation. Scheme, aptly called,
‘Urban development without Tears’, has demonstrated distinct advantages over the other

12. similarly placed schemes in terms of non- involvement of costly, cumbersome, lengthy
procedure of land acquisition ; requiring minimum resources; without involving any
investment and financial liability on planning agency; providing best option and opportunity
for promoting planned development; creating land and infrastructure network ; avoiding
problem of "leap-frog" development; rationalising shape and sizes of land parcels; self-
financing and self-sufficient- generates its own resources for planning and development; making
available land for roads, open spaces and public buildings, commercial use- without any cost to
authorities; creating win-win situation for both the authorities and land-owners; with method
typically supported and sometimes even initiated by the landowners; creating ideal partnership
for development between the public sector and the landowners; increased revenues from
property taxation besides providing access to land for low-income housing.
Land pooling Punjab; To ensure active participation of the land owners in the urban
development and infrastructure development and sourcing land for making urban development
rational, state notified the land pooling scheme. Policy was evolved as an alternative to
compulsory acquisition of land and for involving and making landowners as co-parceners in the
development process. Instead paying compensation in cash, landowner was given the option of
having residential and commercial plots in lieu of the land handed over to the authority. Land
returned to the land owner was in the shape of a residential and commercial plot of varying size
in a developed area depending on the quantum of land surrendered. However, in the case of
small area of land only commercial land in the shape of booth was given. In case of agricultural
land of one acre farmer was given residential plot of 1000 Sqyds and a commercial plot of shop-
cum office of a size of 18feet x 40 feet. Looking at the pattern , intent and content of the scheme,
it will be misnomer to call it a land pooling scheme. In fact it is a barter system under which raw
agricultural land is exchanged with the developed land. Instead of cash, compensation is given in
kind. Success of the scheme largely depends upon the prevailing market conditions and price of
land. Scheme has been found to be popular in large cities where prevailing land prices are high
and farmer hopes to get higher value of plot instead of land acquisition. Further, the success of
scheme also has been found to be contingent to the credibility of the development authority and
the time frame in which plots are allotted and place where allotted. Scheme has also the
limitation that for the success of the scheme development authority must have a developed
residential and commercial land available, which it can offer to the land owner in lieu of raw
land surrendered. However, it does not contain any salient feature of a land pooling scheme.
Amravati land poling scheme is largely based on the Punjab Land Pooling Scheme except the
difference that in case of Amravati case annuity is paid to the land owner for a period of 10
years in addition to residential and commercial plots
Rationalising Building Bye-Laws & Development controls; The effective and optimum
utilization of valuable urban land is often hindered by the existence of archaic and outdated
building bye-laws and development controls, which impose undue restrictions on the use, and

13. development of the plots. In order to improve the utility of land, maximum plot sizes should be
restricted so as to provide plots to large number of people; land use patterns should be clearly
defined to ensure proper utilization of land. Relaxing development controls and building
restrictions relating to mixed land use, vertical expansion, minimum plot size and minimum
width of access street will help in optimum utilization of
land. Thus building by-laws and development controls
would require careful reframing in order to meet the
present day requirement of urban inhabitants using
minimum land.
Amravati Land Pooling Scheme; Amravati, the new
capital city of Andhra Pradesh, planned to house a
population of 3.5 mllion, spread over a total area of 217
sqkm is proposed to be built through an innovative Land
Pooling Scheme, without resorting to any compulsory
land acquisition mechanism. For achieving the objective
of sourcing land directly from farmers/land owners, Government of Andhra Pradesh enacted the
‘AP Capital Region Development Act 2014’ which made provision of Land Pooling Scheme.
The Land Pooling Scheme is a voluntary land procurement mechanism where the landowners
becomes direct beneficiaries and partners in the development process. Under this scheme small
parcels of land belonging to various land owners are assembled under irrevocable voluntary
consents, reassembled into planned parcels which are developed and partly returned to owners.
Compensation to landowner is based on the quality of land and extent of crops. Double-cropped
land owners have been given 1,000 sq yards of residential and 200 sq yards of commercial land /
acre of pooled farmland besides an annuity (paid in monthly instalments) starting at Rs 30,000
per year and rising by Rs 3,000 annually for 10 years whereas owners of Triple-cropped land
have been given 1,000 sq yards of residential land and 450 sq yards of commercial land for every
acre pooled besides an annuity starting at Rs 50,000 per year, rising by Rs 5,000 annually for a
decade. After 10 years,the city is envisioned to be fully developed and all farmers will become
city landlords, workers or businessmen.
. The government will utilize its share of Amravati land to develop world-class infrastructure as
well as other common amenities including the capital complex. As part of the land pooling
scheme government will reconstitute land, develop infrastructure and hand over possession of
developed plots to land owners within two-and-half years.
Delhi Land Pooling Scheme; In order to meet the emerging demand of land due to rapid
population growth, Delhi Development Authority has also come out with a Land pooling Scheme
to source land from landowners without resorting to any compulsory acquisition and without
paying any compensation in cash. The so called
Land Pooling Scheme is based on the principle that land owner has to share part of land with the
DDA in order to get permission for development of land and sell it into the market. Scheme
DDA – LAND POOLING POLICY

14. divides landowners into two distinct categories ie Small land holders having land holding
between 2-20 Hectares and large land owners having land above 20 Hectare. Based on the
conditions to be fulfilled, small land owner is returned 40% of land whereas large landowner gets
60% of the land submitted for development based on the norms. Development conditions provide
the pattern on which land is to be planned and developed along with the density and FAR.
However, in the revised framework FAR for the scheme has been lowered from 400 to 200.
Success of the scheme is yet to be known.
Making Cities Compact; In addition to making available adequate land for urban development,
it will be vital that minimum land is used for urbanisation purpose. At present cities are planned
without caring for their land implications. Accordingly, majority of cities have become land
extensive, consuming large chunk of agricultural land. Pattern of preparing master plans using
successive ring roads has led to exponentially expanding the city. If the land used for
urbanisation has to be limited then the city will have to be planned as compact cites. Sustainable
cities have to be compact. Globally, the compact city has been accepted to be the most
sustainable urban form. Compact city remains a city of short distances involving minimum use
of land. It is known as an urban planning and urban design concept, which promotes relatively
high residential density with mixed land uses. Sustainable Compact Cities reinstate the city as
the ideal habitat for a community-based society. The Compact City addresses the issues of
designing cities where communities thrive, where personal mobility is promoted without using
cars; where use of green transport is the order of mobility and where streets dominate the
cityscape favouring the pedestrians and the community. Compact city grows around centres of
social and commercial activity located at public transport nodes. These provide the focal points
around which neighbourhoods develop. Compact City is a network of these neighbourhoods,
each with its own parks and public spaces and
accommodating a diversity of overlapping
private and public activities. For making a city
compact, it has to be planned, designed and
developed as a vertical and inward looking city.
No horizontal and outward looking city can be
compact. Creating compact city would
essentially involve promoting high density
development for providing large built up area
using minimum land. Horizontally spread cities are known to be cost intensive, energy and land
inefficient because of larger spread of services and road network. Horizontal spread of city leads
to larger travel demand and greater trip length , calling for the provision of large and complex
mechanized transportation, making the city large consumer of resources and energy, generating
green house gasses, creating more pollution, adversely impacting the health and quality of life of
the residents. Horizontal cities invariably lead to numerous operational and management
problems besides making the city environmentally unsustainable. It also reduces the productivity

15. and operational efficiency of the city due to large time and resources spent on travel. Compact
cities on other hand offer distinct advantages in terms of saving precious land resource, economy
in development, energy efficiency, promoting pedestrianization, cycling and mass transportation
with least dependence on personalized vehicles. Compact cities are known to make city life
supportive of social living and overcoming the two worst gifts of urbanization including travel
and traffic. Promoting non-mechanized travel has distinct advantages in improving the health of
residents besides making cities more humane and liveable due to large personal contacts.
CONCLUSION
Considering the enormity and magnitude of problem and declared policy of government to
provide housing for all by 2022 and launching number of innovative missions/yojnas/schemes
by the state/national governments focusing on the urban sector, for affordable housing, making
cities slum free etc, pressure on urban areas is going to increase enormously. In the years to
come, more people are going to make urban areas as their preferred place of residence. This will
require making provision of adequate stock of housing and support infrastructure to take care of
the needs of additional urbanites. Considering the present and the emerging trends of population
growth, state of Punjab would be requiring additional land to the tune of 6200 hectares by the
year 2021 and another 8200 hectares between 2021-2031.Rational and orderly growth of urban
areas of the state will largely depend upon our capacity to leverage land in right quantity, at right
place and at right price. Options given in the paper can be objectively evaluated and used for
sourcing land for urban areas. However attention needs to be drawn to the existing provision of
Town Development Scheme made in the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and
Development Act,1995, which is nothing but a prototype of Land Pooling and Land Distribution
Scheme used by the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra to source land for the urban development
without involving any resource and compulsory acquisition. Unfortunately, the potential of the
scheme has not been explored so far despite the fact the Act was made operational 23 years back.
Not even a single Town Development Scheme has been framed so far in the state. Considering
the fact that land values are very high in the state and land holdings are very small and state is a
major contributor to national pool of food-grains, land pooling scheme emerges as the best
option to source land through partnering with landowners/owners. In addition, planners would
also look at the options of minimizing the land to be used for urban purposes by planning
compact cities.
BIBLOGRAPHY
 Ansari J.H. – Improving Urban Land Management in India, ITPI Journal Vol. 14 No. 3 &
4, 1996;

16.  Michael Mattingly – Urban Management Intervention in land markets.
 Managing Fast Growing cities. Nick Devas & Carole, Rakodi, Longman USA;
 Suresh V, Gupta TN, Singh Kulwant- Housing Scenario: Policies and Perspectives,
National Seminar on Future Cities, October 1997;
 Ministry of Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation, Govt. of India-
Recommendations of the Housing Ministers Conference, June, 1998: National Report on
Habitat-II;
 Gupta JK – Managing Urban Planning through Town Planning Schemes in Punjab, ITPI
Journal, December 1993, Vol. 12 No. 2 (156);
 Gupta JK – National Housing and Habitat Policy 1998- Step in the Right Direction,
Shelter, HUDCO, 1999.
 Gupta JK –Eradicating Slums Through Effective Land Management-published paper
 Gupta JK; Legal Framework in the State of Punjab- Interface between Departments of
Town Planning, Local Government and Urban Development Agencies-
;
Author ;
* Ar. J.K. Gupta
Former Advisor ( Town Planning) Punjab Urban Development Authority
Founder Director, College of Architecture, IET Bhaddal , Punjab
#344, Sector 40-A, Chandigarh-160036,
mail; -jit.kumar1944@gmail.com, Mob- 090410-26414