Proposed international airport faces land acquisition hurdles

Farmers demanding more compensation

The proposed international airport in the Buddhist Circuit of Kushinagar is facing land acquisition hurdles, even as the Centre is yet to grant the final No objection Certificate (NoC) to the project.

While the government is offering to pay the farmers according to the circle rates, the farmers are demanding much more, realising the importance of the project.

Earlier, the government had notified 13 villages for the acquisition of roughly 258 hectares.

The compensation offer ranges from Rs 12 lakh to even Rs 1.5 crore per hectare depending upon the location. The land swathes, which are near the highway are costlier than those in the interiors.

The district administration recently held a public hearing to sort out the issue, but with little success.

The state already has additional 40 hectares land for the project in the form of an old airstrip built in 1946 for emergency services. The proposed airport will have a 3,200 metre long airstrip.

“We are trying our best to sort out the issue and are confident that our plan works out successfully,” a senior district administration official told Business Standard.

The state government had remitted Rs 156 crore in the district treasury for distribution as compensation, when a settlement is reached. At present, the administration is making the final estimates of compensation, he informed.

Meanwhile, the government had extended the final date to June 12 for the prospective private parties to file their Request for Proposal (RfP) documents.

Recently, the project estimated at Rs 829 crore was given environment clearance by the Centre, besides the in-principle approval.

However, the final NoC by the steering committee headed by union civil aviation secretary is yet to come, which is delaying the bidding process, UP tourism secretary and State Tourism Development Corporation MD Avnish Awasthi said.

Four major infrastructure companies viz. GMR, GVK, L&T and Gammon India are in fray after qualifying the Request for Qualification (RfQ) stage.

Kushinagar is part of revered Buddhist Circuit comprising eastern UP and adjoining areas in Bihar associated with Lord Buddha viz. Sarnath, Kushinagar, Sankisa Kaushambi, Shravasti and Kapilvastu.

The airport aims at connecting the Circuit directly with countries accounting for maximum tourist arrivals, including Japan, Myanmar, Korea, China, Thailand, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.