No monetary compensation to Navi Mumbai airport affected

Maha Govt asks Cidco to hold fresh talks with PAPs to provide 22.5% developed land

The Maharashtra government on Monday ruled out giving monetary compensation worth Rs 20 crore per acre or Rs 50 crore per hectare to the project-affected persons (PAPs) of the Navi Mumbai international airport.

Instead, the government asked the City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco), the nodal agency to carry out the airport project, to hold fresh talks with the affected people and offer 22.5 per cent developed land after the acquisition of 292-hectare private land.

The government gave the directives on Monday at the review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan with officials from Cidco and urban development department.

Cidco chairman Pramod Hindurao admitted that the affected people are yet to agree to the government’s proposal to provide 22.5 per cent developed land because they are demanding 35 per cent developed land. “The CM has asked Cidco to once again meet PAPs (project affected persons) to discuss the issue for an early settlement.”

Hindurao confirmed that the government was not keen to give cash compensation as it wanted to provide 22.5 per cent developed land to the affected people.

He said the request for qualification (RFQ) will be issued only after the acquisition of 292 hectares.

Cidco has estimated that 22.5 per cent developed land will be equivalent to 1,575 sq mt. According to the Land Acquisition Act the land price per hectare is with 1.5 floor space index (FSI) is estimated at Rs 21.73 lakh as on date. However, the same land will fetch Rs 15.75 crore per hectare in 2017. Cidco has projected 120 days to complete the land acquisition after reaching an agreement with the affected people.

Of the 2,268 hectares required for the airport project, Cidco possesses 1,572 hectares of land (government and private). However, nearly 671 hectares of government land and 292 hectares of private land are yet to be acquired. Cidco will need 1,160 hectares of the total 2,268 hectares for the actual airport.

R C Gharat, a Congress leader and a negotiator representing the affected people, said the demand is for 35 per cent developed land. “We will reiterate our demand till the government gives details with regard to its proposal of providing 22.5 per cent developed land. The past experience is very bad as PAPs have yet to receive 12.5 per cent developed land after their land parcels were acquired by Cidco for the development of Navi Mumbai.”

Monday’s meeting held by Chavan comes close on the heels of the Centre's recent missive to the state government to kickstart the project development by 2014. A Cidco official informed that the airport project cost, which was envisaged at Rs 4,766 crore way back in 1998 to handle 40 million passengers annually, has jumped to a record Rs 14,573 crore as on date to handle 60 million passengers annually. The rise has been a whopping 305.76 per cent.