In Gurgaon Metro push, Haryana says can seize land if owner won’t sell

The land acquisition under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013, the official said, “is legally robust but painfully slow”. The law mandates multiple notifications, social impact assessments, hearings, objections, and statutory waiting periods, often stretching land acquisition timelines into years.

To bypass this bottleneck, Haryana has introduced the ‘Direct Purchase through Mutual Negotiation’ model. “Landowners are being offered compensation that is 25% higher than what they would ordinarily receive under the 2013 Act, with rehabilitation and resettlement benefits deemed to be included in this enhanced amount. Payments will be made directly to bank accounts through electronic transfer, stamp duty on land registration will be waived, and the entire cost will be borne by GMRL,” another official said.

The policy, however, also makes it clear that this is not an open-ended negotiation. “If a landowner refuses to sell, raises objections that cannot be resolved, or declines to participate in the negotiated settlement process, the government reserves the right to initiate compulsory acquisition proceedings” under the 2013 Act, as per the policy. Once this is done, landowners, most likely, will lose the option of negotiated pricing, face longer timelines, and be bound by statutory compensation mechanisms decided by the authorities.

Officials familiar with the policy say this dual-track approach is deliberate. “By offering higher-than-normal compensation upfront, the government is incentivising voluntary cooperation. At the same time, by explicitly retaining the power of compulsory acquisition, it is sending a message that holding out indefinitely will not stop the Metro project”, an official explained.

A high-powered land purchase committee headed by the deputy commissioner of Gurugram will oversee the process — from identifying land parcels to fixing compensation and conducting negotiations.

Before any land is purchased, joint inspections will be carried out, ownership records will be verified from revenue documents, and public notices will be published in newspapers, giving landowners 30 days to raise objections related to ownership or interest. Only after this window closes will negotiations begin, and once an agreement is signed, landowners will be required to give a written undertaking that they will not seek higher compensation in any court or legal forum in the future.

Urban planners say the policy could mark a turning point for Gurugram’s long-delayed Metro expansion. “With traffic congestion worsening and daily commute times rising sharply, any further delays could have economic and social costs for the city. By compressing land acquisition timelines from years to months, the government hopes to keep construction on track and restore investor confidence in large urban infrastructure projects,” an official said.