The Andhra Pradesh Government plans to come out with a new land pooling policy aimed at acquiring about one lakh acres in the Vijayawada-Guntur—Tenali-Mangalagiri region to develop the new capital around Vijayawada.

It plans complete the land acquisition within six months.

The Cabinet sub-Committee on land pooling headed by the State Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu today considered different methods of acquiring land and have decided to adopt the land pooling method which has been successfully tried in other parts of the country, including in developing new capital cities of Gandhinagar and Naya Raipur.

According to the Committee, the region around Vijayawada has 20 lakh acres of which 20,000 acres is part of the Government land and some of it comes under the forest tracts.

Addressing media persons after their meeting, the Finance Minister said the land pooling approach seems to be the best option as opposed to land acquisition and negotiations with the land owners.

As per the Cabinet subcommittee, it is proposed to acquire 25,000 acres in each phase spanning four phases to develop the new capital and other infrastructure.

It is proposed to hold meetings with District Collectors of Krishna and Guntur districts where these areas come under to finalise the land acquisition process. This would mean no transactions would be permitted in areas identified for land pooling process.

The Government expects to begin construction work on new capital within a year and complete the phase one within three years.

The Government may provide about 40 per cent of the developed land after pooling back to the farmers. In addition to the share of developed land, the Government is exploring to offer about Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 per acre for five to 10 years to cover up the loss.

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