Abstract

Land is a scarce but vital resource required for all large public infrastructural projects, which are critical for economic development. The procedural mandates to access land, laid under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013 have been perceived by some stakeholders as being cumbersome and time-consuming. Simultaneously, land pooling or land reconstitution has emerged as a popular alternative to land acquisition for development purposes. It has seen wide acceptance due to numerous advantages: benefit sharing between stakeholders, and offering a more flexible and financially viable alternative to land acquisition.

Land being a state subject, several states have formulated and implemented their own policies on land pooling, with varied experiences. This policy brief explains when land pooling can be used as a tool for land assembly and development, and offers some essential prerequisites to frame a workable policy for land pooling.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24943/pb8flppkp.2019