DLF bonanza for Kolkata land losers

After JSW, DLF will hand out a dream compensation package to the land-losers for the 4,800 acre Dankuni township near Kolkata, which will be bigger than Gurgaon.

The main components in the package are one job per family losing land, technical training and last but not least, two cottahs of land per family or housing.

Surojit Basak, chief financial officer, DLF Home Developers said that according to the land survey, around 600 families would lose land and the number could change later. He was speaking on the sidelines of the company's press conference to announce the proposed initial public offering.

The package is over and above what DLF was shelling out for the land. Basak said the company was buying land at the market rate, which was Rs 55 lakh per acre.

DLF won the project through an international tender. Last year, the company won the bid to build the township by offering Rs 2,713 crore.

State government sources said DLF had already paid Rs 278 crore to Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) for the land. KMDA is the statutory planning and development authority for the Kolkata Metropolitan Area under provision of the West Bengal Town and Country (Planning & Development) Act.

The state government is planning a land procurement committee for the purchase. The committee would avoid taking land with residential houses or villages.

The total project cost is around Rs 33,000 crore. Basak said the Dankuni township would be DLF's biggest township project. The project would have a mix of residential and commercial use. Around three-fifth of the land would be used for residential purposes and the balance would be commercial.

The township would also house DLF's textile special economic zone (SEZ). The company recently got clearance for the SEZ from the board of approval for SEZs.