TDP urges govt to lease lands instead of selling them

Hyderabad, Aug 31 (UNI) The opposition Telugu Desam Party today suggested to the Andhra Pradesh government to follow the Chinese model of leasing land to attract industrial investment and urged the state not to sell land any longer.

Resuming the debate on land acquisition for the outer ring road and evacuees property in the Assembly today, party Deputy Leader T Devender Goud said though the Chinese were allotting land to foreign investors, they gave it only on a 60 year lease and did not sell it.

This ensured the next generation could take back possession of precious and scarce land. The system was working very well in China.

Mr Goud also suggested that the government should allot the land to the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC), which should reallocate it to investors.

He added that where land acquisition was arbitrary, courts had awarded compensation 100 to 200 times more than the compensation offered by the government and suggested that agreements be reached with land owners through negotiations. He faulted the government for paying Rs five lakh compensation an acre for land worth Rs 50 lakh.

Stating that the APIIC needed to explain why it had given acquisition notices to some land owners for the outer ring road and then withdrawn them, Mr Goud alleged that notices given for acquisition of some land in Gopannapalli village on the city outskirs were later withdrawn and the land was purchased by some 'influential people,' with the blessings of the government.

The opposition leader wanted the government to implement the land-to-land package for land acquired for the outer ring road and assured that his party would take the initiative and convince those who had lost land not to insist on money.

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