Land pooling: transforming landowners into development partners

Land pooling offers India an alternative to the contentious land acquisition process by turning landowners into development partners. Instead of losing land for one-time compensation, owners contribute a portion and receive smaller but more valuable developed plots. The model’s success in Gujarat, Amaravathi, and NAINA demonstrates the potential of the land pooling framework, but long-term success depends on voluntary participation, fair value sharing, transparency, timely infrastructure delivery, and strong institutional safeguards that build lasting trust between landowners and the state.