(1) The Government may acquire any land in the project area for a project purpose.
(2) The acquisition shall be made in accordance with the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (Central Act I of 1894) (hereinafter in this section referred to as the said Act), subject to the following modifications:-
(i) For section 11 of the said Act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:—
11. "Enquiry and Award by Collector.- On the day so fixed, or on any other day to which the enquiry has been adjourned, the Collector shall proceed to enquire into the objections, if any, which any person interested has stated pursuant to a notice given under section 9 to the measurements made under section 8, into the market value of the land on the 1st July, 1953 and the value of any improvements to the land effected, after that date and before the date of the publication of the notification under sub-section (1) of section 4, into the value of the land at the date of the publication of the notification under sub-section (1) of section 4 and into the respective interests of the persons claiming the compensation and shall make an award under his hand of-
(i) the true area of the land;
(ii) the compensation which in his opinion should be allowed for the land; and
(iii) the apportionment of the said compensation among all the persons known or believed to be interested in the land, of whom, or of whose claims, he has information, whether or not they have respectively appeared before him.";
(ii) after sub-clause (ii) of clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 17 of the said Act, as amended by [the Land Acquisition (Andhra Pradesh Amendment) Act, 1948 (Act XXI of 1948),] the following shall be added, namely:-
"or
(iii) for any purpose connected with the Nagarjuna sagar Project in the area to which the Nagarjuna sagar Project (Acquisition of Land) Act, 1956, extends.";
(iii) in sub-section (1) of section 23 of the said Act, for clause first, the following clause shall be substituted, namely:-
"first, the market-value of the land on the 1st July 1953 and the value of any improvements to the land effected after that date and before the date of the publication of the notification under sub-section (1) of section 4 or the market-value of the land on the date of the publication of the said notification, whichever is less;
Explanation.— The Government may, on the request of the landowner, agree to give in exchange any Government land the cost of which is, in their opinion, equal to the cost of the land acquired, or agree to pay the cost of a portion of the land acquired and for the remaining portion give Government land the cost of which is in their opinion equal to the amount due".