The Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) is ready to undertake an enormous land acquisition train as per the federal government’s directives and NITI Aayog’s Growth Hub Strategy. The purpose is to rework Visakhapatnam right into a ‘Bay City or Miami of the East’.
The Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) division has authorised the VMRDA to implement a Land Acquisition Scheme (LPS) for buying 1,941.19 acres. This contains 1132.09 acres in Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram (25.41 acres) and Anakapalli (783.69 acres).
Keeping in view the Visakhapatnam Economic Region (VER) plan, this land pooling will allow two key city sprawls, Vizag 2.0 (210 sq. km) and Vizag Bay City (40 sq. km), to be developed as brownfield initiatives to accommodate future city and financial development in a structured and sustainable method.
The accredited land pooling mannequin, guided by the VMRDA’s Land Pooling Scheme Rules, 2016, is designed as a debt-free financing technique. Landowners voluntarily present land and in return, a portion of the developed plots is allotted to them. VMRDA will monetise the remaining land to fund infrastructure growth. This strategy avoids enormous acquisition prices and fosters public-private collaboration in city planning.
The scheme will even pool private and non-private lands close to strategic corridors just like the Anakapalli-Bhogapuram Highway. In addition, regularisation of eligible encroached lands shall be undertaken, with the RDOs of the respective districts being appointed because the implementing officers.
The Visakhapatnam regional financial system is predicted to develop from $54 billion to $135 billion by 2032. To help these developments, the federal government is investing in complete infrastructure, together with the Vizag Metro Rail phases 1 and a couple of, scheduled to be accomplished between 2028 and 2030. The mission will join IT corridors and the Bhogapuram International Airport (second section).
“Land pooling serves as a non-debt capital mobilisation device, permitting VMRDA to create a land financial institution of developed plots from pooled lands and to monetize developed plots to fund main infrastructure initiatives corresponding to metro rail, roads, utilities. Ensure cost-effective city growth by avoiding large-scale upfront land acquisition prices. Ultimately, it should take ahead Vizag 2.0 and Vizag Bay City ideas into actuality,” a VMRDA official informed The Hindu on situation of anonymity.
Published – August 03, 2025 07:42 pm IST
