GURGAON: Experts have welcomed the Haryana government’s draft land pooling policy , which may boost infrastructure projects in Gurgaon, although they are waiting to see how many land owners participate.The policy is aimed at evolving a fair and transparent mechanism for pooling of land for the Haryana Urban Development Authority from willing landowners. The aim is to procure land in an inclusive manner, with landowners willingly parting with their land, making them partners in development, rather than taking the route of compulsory acquisition.“The policy shall definitely promote balanced growth of infrastructure as well real estate in the areas identified for land acquisition, under this policy,” said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman of CBRE India & South East Asia. “Further, the government has also adopted an inclusive approach in the development process rather than adopting a dictatorship model.”The land pooling policy should help improve the supply of commercial and residential segments in the city and boost the development of infrastructure, according to Surabhi Arora, senior associate director at Colliers International India. Success of the policy requires active landowner participation, which will depend on fair and timely implementation and allotment of developed land, she said.“If the plan is approved and implemented at a good pace, it will take at least three to five years before the supply starts coming into the market. Thus, any short-term impact on prices is unlikely. However, it will help in a holistic development of the market in the long term,” Arora said.The Haryana government felt the need for the new policy in light of legal battles over land acquisition and high compensation sought by landowners, which had hindered development of infrastructure. Under the proposed policy, land pooling is voluntary and the agency will compensate landowners by giving them part of the developed land.“In a place like Gurgaon, the government is finding it difficult to get land for expanding its infrastructure projects, which is quite inadequate at the moment. HUDA has no land for this,” said Rohan Sharma, an associate director at Jones Lang LaSalle India. “This is definitely a step in the right direction in terms of land gathering. But it remains to be seen how many people are going to participate in this. The land/compensation that the government gives in return is not much.”Magazine of CBRE said the process of acquiring land through this mechanism, especially in key cities such as Gurgaon, Faridabad and Sohna, might become a little tedious. He said the policy provides for a subsistence allowance payable for a maximum of three years.“This may lead to uncertainty in the minds of land owners and may discourage them from participating in the scheme. While the announcement is a welcome step, it would need close monitoring from the government,” Magazine added.Usually when land is pooled, a number of small holdings are combined and a portion is taken from each plot to provide infrastructure and public facilities. The rest is returned to original landowners for development purposes, which include commercial and residential projects, Arora said.States are increasingly are opting for land pooling. In Andhra Pradesh, the land-pooling policy was implemented for building the new capital, Amaravati. Gujarat has used this mechanism for residential development in the peripheral areas and building city infrastructure. Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Tamil Nadu have notified the policy.According to the Haryana draft policy, since a fair quantum of developed residential and commercial sites will be provided to landowners in lieu of their undeveloped land, no benefits of rehabilitation and resettlement will be allowed.Landowners will get subsistence allowance of Rs 50,000 per acre for a maximum of three years or until the handover of the developed share of land, whichever is earlier.Commercial sites will be allotted only if they can be planned in the scheme as per norms of HUDA, otherwise additional residential area equivalent to double the entitlement of developed commercial plots will be allotted either as a separate plot or by clubbing it with the owner’s residential entitlement.