AP For Lease Of Assigned Lands To Renewable Energy Companies

Vijayawada:The state government’s decision to allow leasing of assigned lands to renewable energy companies would benefit not only assigned land beneficiaries but also help attract investments in the renewable energy sector in the backdrop of the CII Partnership Summit 2025.

Stating this, officials said on Wednesday that the assigned lands in the state total 3,636,748 acres, of which lands eligible for freehold are of 1,362,345 acres.

The assigned lands that are already listed as freehold were of 993,248 acres and lands available for lease were 2,643,500 acres. Only assigned lands should be leased to renewable energy companies such as solar, wind, CGP, and pumped storage companies, they said.

The lease process would be conducted either through NEDCAP or a rural board that would soon be established by the state government. “The government has already identified locations in the state that are suitable for setting up renewable energy centres. Renewable energy plants can be established only in those areas,” they said.

While government lands will be allocated by the state, private lands can be leased by companies. Renewable energy companies that were already established in the state are leasing private lands and providing a rent of `30,000 to `40,000 per acre annually with a 5 per cent increase in rent every two years, to the farmers.

Revenue minister, Anagani Satyaprasad, cited an amendment to the assignment law that was recently approved by the cabinet. “Assigned lands can now also be leased,” he said and felt that an income of `30,000 to 40,000 per acre is a good income for assigned lands in uplands.

Generally, assigned lands range from one to five acres per poor farmer.

The minister said poor farmers cultivating one or two acres earn an income only if crops are successful. “If crops fail, their labour goes waste. Leasing lands to companies provides a net income; and by working elsewhere for a year, they get net income.”

He said the government’s decision to allow assigned lands for renewable energy companies would help attract investments through the CII Partnership Summit. “This reform is designed to bring sustained benefits to poor assigned land farmers by integrating it into the state's renewable energy vision. By becoming stakeholders, these farmers will secure stable incomes and their children will access jobs in emerging industries.”

Satyaprasad said, “This strategy forms a crucial part of our commitment to transform Andhra Pradesh into a poverty-free state.”