June 10 deadline for Purandar farmers to submit land consent letters for Pune’s new airport project

Pune: Farmers across seven villages in Purandar taluka have been given a June 10 deadline to submit consent letters for land acquisition for the proposed Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje International Airport, failing which the district administration is set to initiate compulsory acquisition for the remaining parcels.

Officials said consent has already been received for 1,836 acres—over 60% of the nearly 3,000 acres required for the project. Compensation worth around Rs 900 crore has been disbursed so far to landholders. “The deadline for submitting consent letters is June 10 (Wednesday). After this, compulsory acquisition will be initiated for the remaining land,” a district official said.

The acquisition process began on May 7, and officials noted that nearly 96% of landholders had initially expressed willingness during the preliminary survey. State govt has fixed compensation at Rs 1.61 crore per acre.

The consent process, which began over a month ago, has enabled the administration to acquire more than half of the land required for the project. Farmers who have submitted consent letters are being called to execute agreements, following which compensation is credited directly to their bank accounts. The administration estimates the total compensation outlay at around Rs 6,000 crore, with Rs 500 crore released initially and subsequent instalments bringing the total payout to Rs 900 crore so far.

The execution of agreements, however, has slowed in some cases because of issues with land search reports. Authorities said a team of lawyers has been appointed to resolve documentation hurdles and speed up the process. Counsellors have also been engaged to guide landowners on managing compensation funds responsibly.

Farmer representatives from Saswad said while many landowners are ready with consent letters, minor documentation issues have caused delays in some cases.

Village-wise, Pargaon has recorded the highest number of consent letters at 580, followed by Ekhatpur (298), Vanpuri (265), Khanwadi (260), Kumbharvalan (250), Munjawadi (175), and Udachiwadi (59). In terms of land acquired, Khanwadi leads with 150.88 acres, followed by Ekhatpur (146.5 acres), Vanpuri (118.45 acres), Kumbharvalan (112 acres), Pargaon (100.42 acres), Munjawadi (65 acres), and Udachiwadi (42 acres).

Officials said a final call on acquiring the remaining land will be taken after the June 10 deadline.