The promoters of the proposed Nandagudi Special Economic Zone, SKIL Infrastructure Ltd, will initiate the process of acquisition of farm land required for the project in six months’ time, and it is presently working on the compensation package to be offered to farmers.
SKIL Chief Executive Officer J P Rai told reporters here on Tuesday that the company had involved some management institutes in working out the package, which will be ready in six months.
“We will start interacting with local farmers to acquire land once the package is ready. Help of the local panchayats will be taken for this purpose,” he added but did not elaborate on the package.
Clearance
The multi-product SEZ, proposed to come up on 12,350 acres covering 36 villages in Nandagudi hobli in Hoskote taluk at a cost of Rs 15,000 crore, ran into rough weather soon after the State Cabinet cleared it a month ago. While the local farmers have taken up cudgels against the project, the Congress has charged the State Government with “indulging in real estate business”. Despite opposition, the Centre’s Board of Approval (BoA) gave in-principle nod to the project recently.
Mr Rai, however, said compensation would be based on the market value. “We’ll offer a variety of compensations as per farmers’ needs. A “menu of packages” will be offered for land owners to choose from. And, in case if they do not like any, they will not be compelled to give away their land,” he said.
Ready to cut size
SKIL might consider reducing the size of the SEZ if it fails to acquire 12,350 acres. But the size reduction will not be by more than 1,000 hectares of land, the CEO said.
Why Nandagudi? “Nandagudi has good connectivity. It is near the upcoming international airport and the road is also good,” Mr Rai said. Further, the place is ideal for those ‘work-and-live’ at the SEZ.
The SEZ will house both service, including IT, and manufacturing sectors. About 15 to 25 per cent of the total land would be used for residential purposes, depending on the industrial units come up, he said.
