The rapid increase in the urbanization of India means that not only is housing in great demand, but so is land that is planned and serviced. There are multiple obstacles to increasing the supply of planned and serviced urban land, ranging from economic to technical to political, meaning that fulfilling needs in physical infrastructure and social amenities is a challenge. As a result, informal settlements lacking in infrastructure along the peripheries of cities are often the most viable way for people to find housing.
One strategy to overcome the inability to access land for planned urbanization is the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) in Amravati, Andhra Pradesh State. This variation of land readjustment allows government agencies to consolidate privately-owned parcels for public purpose reservations designated in the master plan, including infrastructure, social amenities, and affordable housing for the poor. Compensation for landowners include serviced land and monetary support; landless families are given a pension for 10 years. As one of the largest experiments in land pooling in the country, with over 13,000 hectares pooled in less than two months, critics argue that preventing resistance to LPS required a heavy reliance on law enforcement, and that provisions to address grievances from this scheme have been weak.
Source: Mathews, R., M. Pai, T. Sebastian and S. Chakraborty. 2018. “State-Led Alternative Mechanisms to Acquire, Plan and Service Land for Urbanisation in India”. World Resources Institute.