Pune: 30% Land Acquired For Purandar Airport; Rs 115 Crore Compensation Deposited In Farmers’ Accounts

Pune: Around 30% of the land needed for the proposed Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje International Airport at Purandar has been acquired through agreements with farmers, Pune district officials said on Wednesday.

Pune District Collector Jitendra Dudi said compensation worth Rs 115 crore has been directly transferred to farmers’ bank accounts over the last three days. He clarified that the payments are currently being made only to original landowners and not to investors holding land in the project area.

What’s The Proposed Plan?

The proposed airport project requires 1,216 hectares, or nearly 3,040 acres, of land spread across seven villages in Purandar tehsil. Officials said affected farmers are expected to receive a minimum compensation of Rs 1.61 crore per acre.

According to the administration, agreements have already been completed for around 920 acres of land. This accounts for more than 30% of the total land required for the airport project. The acquisition process is underway in all seven villages included in the project area.

Admin Starts Issuing Notices…

The district administration has started issuing notices to farmers who have agreed to the acquisition before finalising agreements. These notices include details of compensation for land, houses, fruit-bearing trees, orchards, borewells, pipelines, and other affected assets.

Dudi said the compensation distribution process gained speed from Monday onwards, and notices are being issued across all seven villages. He added that the remaining farmers are expected to receive notices within the next two days.

The collector also addressed concerns related to bank loans on agricultural land. Many farmers have loans, due to which liens are marked on their 7/12 land extracts. To avoid delays, bank representatives are being present during the agreement signing.

Officials said the compensation amount linked to outstanding loans is being directly paid to the banks through separate cheques. This allows farmers to immediately receive No Objection Certificates (NOCs), clearing the way for compensation payments without additional hurdles.

District Admin Warns Against Rumours…

Dudi appealed to farmers to inform land acquisition officers about any existing loans on their land so that the NOC process can be completed smoothly.

Meanwhile, the district administration has warned against rumours being circulated about the airport project and compensation process.

According to officials, false claims are being spread among farmers that if the airport project gets cancelled in the future, the government will recover the compensation amount with 25% interest. Rumours are also being spread that delaying land handover will result in higher compensation later.

Dudi dismissed these claims as false and urged farmers to rely only on official information provided by the administration. He warned that criminal cases would be registered against people found spreading misleading rumours related to the land acquisition process.