Rs 3 CRORE PER HA - Law pushes land costs for NH projects by 6 folds
Dipak Dash
New Delhi:
The land acquisition law enacted during UPA 's tenure has pushed up the cost of buying land for highway projects almost six times over five years. In the current financial year the National Highways Authority of India estimates the initial price per hectare at `3 crore compared to `56 lakh in 2011-12.
Compared to the average cost of `1.35 crore a hectare during the last financial year, the acquisition value is estimated to be more than double this year. This has resulted in the overall cost of constructing a kilometer of a four-lane highway rising to almost `16 crore, compared to `11crore`12 crore a couple of years ago.A steep rise in the project cost has implications for the toll users pay.
The overall cost for building a kilometer of road includes construction expenses and the compensation paid during land acquisition.Sources said the expenditure towards land acquisition for building bypasses could be even higher -as much as `10 `11 crore a hectare in crore-` certain parts of the country -as land around urban clusters is more valuable. Also, bypasses need more land compared to upgrading an existing two lane stretch to four lanes. The higher cost of land has implications for the greenfield expressways planned around the country .
Land was around 10% of the cost of constructing a four-lane highway in 2011-12, compared to almost 45% now.For instance, to build a kilometer of a four-lane highway , around 1.5 hectare is needed, which would have cost around `75 lakh in 2011-12. Now the acquisition cost has increased to around `4.50 crore for a km, which is in addition to the construction cost. With govern ment targeting to award at least 10,000 km over the next two-three years for their widening, there would be more acquisition. But officials concede that thanks to higher compensation, landowners are more willing to offer land for acquisition. “Provisions of the new land acquisition law became applicable for NH projects from January . Though our outgo is increasing significantly, there are positive indications that now there are fewer objections from owners as farmers are getting greater financial benefits,“ said a government official.
But there are several areas on which the government wants the rules eased. For instance, the road transport and highways ministry has sought relaxations under the current law arguing that land acquisition for linear projects does not displace people in large numbers unlike projects for irrigation or setting up of power plants.
As a result, it has sought relief under Schedule-II of the new land acquisition law that deals with resettlement and rehabilitation of affected families. The ministry has put up acase that it should be allowed to make a one-time payment to the affected families instead of annuity payments spread over decades.
