The TP Scheme is a land pooling and readjustment mechanism that allows the city administration to reshape a parcel of land to develop it with amenities and services – such as roads, parks, social infrastructure and utilities. Many countries, including Japan, have adopted this tool. In India, according to an Asian Development Bank Working Paper, the TP Scheme was institutionalised more than 100 years ago “but legal, institutional, and financial challenges have caused scant implementation”.

The successful cases are mostly concentrated in Gujarat. At present, a total of 451 TP Schemes are operating across the state. Of them, 384 are at a preliminary stage and 67 in the final stage. The reservation for commercial and residential use is done during the preliminary stage. Then the announcement for sale of plots through public auctions is made by the municipal corporation, urban development authorities, or the area development authorities.

However, in recent years, land buyers had been complaining about reservation of plots under the scheme. They say they are obligated to build as per the reservation specified – commercial or residential – during purchase of a plot. If the construction in the vicinity does not fall in the same category as theirs, they have to suffer losses.

For example, if a person buys a land parcel reserved for residential category but the area around it is developed for commercial use, the buyer remains at a disadvantage because he/she is not allowed to build for commercial use. Since real-estate requires large investments, buyers want protection against such risks. They now appear reluctant to buy plots in auctions and those who have bought plots say they are facing difficulties in obtaining approvals based on the GDCR.

Heeding to the demands of buyers, the Gujarat government is now considering doing away with the commercial and residential use categorisation of plots. Instead, it wants to implement a new reservation for sale (RFS) system to allow buyers to carry out construction as per their preference as long as they comply with the GDCR and the Town Planning Act-1976, the people cited above said.

Town Planning Department’s Chief Town Planner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja said the department has received multiple applications from buyers to change the category from commercial to residential and vice versa. He, however, said no final decision has been made. Any action can be taken only after receiving directives from the government, he added.

Tiring process

In Gujarat, creating TP Schemes is a time-consuming process. A direct consequence of this is imposition of restrictions on plot sales in areas where TP Schemes are announced. The plots are reserved for commercial or residential purposes based on the prevailing conditions in the areas.

After a TP Scheme is announced for an area, several years usually pass and many changes occur before it reaches the preliminary stage. In many cases, residential construction occurs in the vicinity of the commercial plots and the area adjacent to commercial plots transform into residential buildings. This defeats the purpose for which the plots were reserved in the first place.

According to Town Planning Department sources, plots are reserved for various reasons based on the availability of open land under every TP Scheme. The ideal situation calls for the reservation of 50 per cent or more of open land under various categories: 10 per cent for housing for social and economically weaker sections (SEWSH), 15 per cent for roads and streets, 5 per cent for public amenities, 5 per cent for social infrastructure, and 15 per cent for residential and commercial use sale.