India, Dec. 13 -- The UP government has authorised development authorities across the state to approve the conversion of agricultural land into residential for projects under the Chief Minister's Urban Expansion Scheme, Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) officials said on Friday, adding that the provision aimed to expedite projects under the scheme.

In an official communication to these authorities on December 10, P Guruprasad, principal secretary of the housing and urban planning department, stated that the authority to approve land use conversion will be entrusted with the boards of these authorities only for the projects under the said scheme.

Nand Kishor Kalal, vice-chairperson of GDA, said: "Earlier, the land use conversion auth...