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The Tamil Nadu government is exploring the possibility of introducing Land Pooling Policy, under which landowners whose land is taken over for projects can surrender it voluntarily.
After project execution, the unused land will be reclassified as industrial or commercial land and returned to the owner, said TV Somanathan, Tamil Nadu’s Principal Secretary for Planning, Development and Special Incentives Department.
Win-win situation
It will be a win-win situation for both landowners and the government. This has been tried by some States, and the Tamil Nadu government is exploring its possibility. This makes reclassified land much more valuable, he said at a CII Conference on Tamil Nadu State Connectivity.
Connectivity is critical for infrastructure creation and economic growth. However, there are challenges, including land acquisition, that are not peculiar to Tamil Nadu. There has been some improvement after the implementation of the Arbitration Act, which is time-bound, avoiding inordinate delays in arbitration awards, he said.
Connectivity
In Vision 2023 document of the Tamil Nadu government, one of the key themes is seamless and affordable connectivity within the State and with rest of India and the world, Somanathan said. After Tamil Nadu State Wide Area Network, the State government is implementing BharatNet wherein optical fibre cable will be laid from every block office to every village panchayat in the State. This is expected to be completed by 2019-end.
The Tamil Nadu government is also embarking on TamilNet, which will provide optical fibre connectivity from Chennai to every block. This will be on owned OFC to provide faster broadband connectivity from Chennai to districts, and from districts to blocks and from blocks to villages, he said.
When these projects are completed, broadband speed in every village will be the same as it is in Chennai. This will enable disbursal of business and industry, commerce and services to any part of the State. Connectivity will not be a barrier for any project, Somanathan said.
Rajeev Ranjan, Secretary for Highways and Minor Ports, said there is a plan to upgrade 2,626 km of State roads into national highways standards. Further, 7,900 km of local body roads are being converted to highway standards. Tamil Nadu has one of the best road networks in the country, he said.
The second phase of Outer Ring Road built at a cost of ₹2,156 crore is to be inaugurated soon. With help of ADB, the State government is taking up work on 15 roads with a length of 654 km under Chennai-Kanyakumari industrial corridor for ₹6,448 crore.
“We are hoping to get tendering done in the next few months,” Ranjan said.
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