MOHALI: After the announcement of two ambitious projects — Mullanpur Urban Estate and IT City — for which Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) is going to acquire around 2,000 acres land in Mohali district, authorities are now planning to encourage farmers to adopt land pooling scheme to reduce acquisition cost.

At present average compensation being paid by GMADA for acquisition of land is around Rs 1.3 to Rs 1.5 crore, which means that GMADA would have to pay Rs 3,000 crore if the entire land is acquired by paying cash. A senior official said that for Mullanpur Urban Estate, the land acquisition collector has already issued the notices under Section 9 of Land Acquisition Act but efforts were on to motivate farmers to opt for land pooling scheme under which they will be given 968 square yard of developed residential plot and 121 square yard of commercial plot including parking space in lieu of one acre land acquired by them.

"We would also pay the rent on market rate basis till the time they are handed over the developed residential plot. Generally, it takes around 1.5 years to hand over the developed site but till then rent being paid to farmers would ensure they do not suffer any loss," said the official.

Knowing that response to land pooling scheme has not generated desired response, now GMADA is planning to advertise the salient features of the scheme in a big way.