The Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday approved fresh amendments to the state’s land pooling policy, offering additional benefits to landowners amid continuing protests against the scheme.
The revised policy, cleared at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Wednesday, enhances the size of residential and commercial plots to be allotted to landowners in exchange for land surrendered under the Land Pooling Policy, 2021.
The owners will now get an additional 10-40 sq yard commercial/residential plot per acre of land they give up under the land pooling policy.
Landowners in the mixed-use and general category will now receive a 210 sq yard commercial plot per acre, up from 200 sq yard, while the residential entitlement remains a 1,000 sq yard plot.
For land pooled under the residential category, the entitlement has been increased from 1,600 sq yards to 1,630 sq yards per acre. In the commercial category, the plot entitlement has been enhanced from 800 sq yards to 840 sq yards per acre of land pooled. These benefits apply to landholdings of more than one acre.
The Cabinet also approved the issuance of special letters of intent (LOIs) to owners of fractional landholdings. The entitlement under this category will be calculated proportionately and the special LOIs will be tradable. Landowners will be able to accumulate special LOIs equivalent to a particular plot size and redeem these for a developed plot under the scheme. The Cabinet also decided to exempt original landowners from paying stamp duty at the time of registration of the developed plot allotted under the scheme.
The government has also amended the oustee policy to provide developed plots to landowners whose land is acquired for roads and other public utilities. Those whose one acre of land is acquired will receive a 200 sq yard plot, those losing between 1 and 2.5 acres will receive a 300 sq yard plot, and those whose acquisition exceeds 2.5 acres will be entitled to a 500 sq yard plot.
This is the third revision of the policy since the AAP government assumed office. The first policy, notified in June last year, was withdrawn following protests by farmers and court intervention. The second version, introduced in November 2025, also faced opposition from farmers and landowners.
