Ghaziabad, 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. Officials added 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 powers were with the state government. However, now the boards of these development authorities can approve such changes to speed up projects." "In Ghaziabad, this will benefit the GDA's upcoming Harnandipuram housing project," added Kalal. The provision, officials said, was made under Section 13 of the UP Urban Planning and Development Act 1973, which deals with changes in the master plan or the zonal development plans. In Ghaziabad, GDA has proposed its ambitious 521-hectare Harnandipuram project near Raj Nagar Extension. According to officials, the land sought for the project is agricultural; therefore, it first needs to be converted to residential. Rudresh Shukla, GDA's media coordinator, said: "Earlier, such conversions required state government's approvals, which often consumed time. Now, the development authorities, GDA in Ghaziabad's case, will be able to fast-track the land use conversion process and expedite the ground-level works for the Harnandipuram project." According to officials, GDA plans to launch the first phase of the Harnandipuram project in the next five months after it procures about 100-120 hectares of land from farmers. So far, GDA has received consent from farmers holding about 85 hectares of land, added officials....