50% of Purandar airport land acquisition under way; farmers give consent for 1,525 acres

Pune: Land acquisition for the proposed Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje International Airport in Purandar has crossed the halfway mark, with the district administration receiving consent affidavits from farmers for nearly 1,525 acres.

The proposed airport project requires 1,216 hectares (around 3,040 acres) spread across seven villages in Purandar taluka.

Pune district collector Jitendra Dudi on Monday said the acquisition process was progressing smoothly and compensation was being directly transferred to farmers’ bank accounts.

“Affidavits consenting to acquisition have been received for around 1,525 acres. Compensation worth nearly Rs450 crore has been deposited in farmers’ accounts over the past two weeks,” Dudi said.

Officials said the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) had already released an additional Rs500 crore from state govt for the acquisition process, while the remaining funds are expected to be transferred to the district administration shortly.

According to officials, affected farmers are expected to receive a minimum compensation of Rs1.61 crore per acre. The amount could rise to nearly Rs2 crore per acre depending on the presence of houses, orchards, fruit-bearing trees, borewells, pipelines and other assets on the land.

The administration has nearly completed issuing notices to farmers who submitted consent affidavits ahead of the execution of final agreements. Dudi said notices were being served across all seven villages and the remaining farmers were expected to receive them within the next two days.

The collector also addressed concerns over agricultural loans linked to acquired land. Many farmers have outstanding bank loans reflected as liens on their 7/12 extracts, officials said. To prevent delays, bank representatives are remaining present during the registration of agreements.

Officials added that compensation amounts linked to outstanding loans were being directly paid to banks through separate cheques, allowing farmers to obtain no-objection certificates (NOCs) immediately and complete compensation formalities without delay.

Dudi appealed to farmers to disclose details of existing loans to land acquisition officers to ensure smooth processing of payments and NOCs.