AP Cabinet nod for new land pooling norms in Amaravati

Vijayawada: The state Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, on Tuesday gave its nod for the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Land Pooling Scheme Formulation and Implementation Rules 2025. It also approved several other proposals.

Speaking to the media at the Secretariat after the Cabinet meet, Information and Public Relations (I&PR) Minister K Parthasarathy said the land pooling rules were framed with an aim to transform Amaravati into a global city, a financial powerhouse for the state, attracting international educational institutions, establishing an airport, and fulfilling other development requirements.

"The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Land Pooling Scheme Formulation and Implementation Rules 2025 have been approved, keeping the future in mind and to ensure competitiveness with other major cities in the country,” Parthasarathy said.

All land parcels identified under the land pooling scheme will be brought under a uniform framework, unlike the earlier system where different parcels followed different rules, he added. The government, which already acquired 54,000 acres through land pooling, aims to acquire an additional 40,000 acres to transform the region into a metropolis by integrating Guntur, Vijayawada, Mangalagiri, and Tadepalli.

The minister said the land pooling rules had been designed to benefit farmers.

Besides the land pooling norms, the Cabinet also approved orders to issue Letters of Agreement (LOA) to three contractors - NCC, Shapoorji Pallonji, and L&T - for the construction of 69 lakh sq ft of office space in Amaravati. These projects include the construction of the Heads of the Departments' towers and the General Administration Department (GAD) towers.

Parthasarathy explained that the Cabinet approved orders for NCC to build two GAD towers at Rs 844 crore, L&T to construct another two GAD towers at Rs 1,247 crore, and Shapoorji Pallonji to build HoD towers at Rs 1,423 crore. Similarly, it has given a nod for a proposal to lease 55 acres of land to the Indian Institute of Legal Education and Research at the rate of Re 1 per sq m per annum in Amaravati. Parthasarathy said the state had initially planned to allot land for the institution at Rs 50 lakh per acre, but dropped the idea as the total cost would have been Rs 25 crore, making the project unviable for the institution.

Further approvals included the appointment of 40 town planning assistants in CRDA and the establishment of nine more Anna canteens. The Cabinet, led by the Chief Minister, also greenlit the AP Building Rules Amendment proposal, aiming to liberalise building regulations and stimulate construction activity across the state.

Additionally, the Cabinet decided to appoint international tennis player Saketh Sai as a deputy collector under the sports quota.

Further, the Chief Minister instructed ministers and MLAs to organise meetings in their respective constituencies to highlight the achievements of the NDA government over the past year. He also announced that a door-to-door campaign programme would commence from July 1.