AP to expedite land acquisition at APSEZ for Barc, Kap Col

The Andhra Pradesh government is making arrangements to allot a whopping 2,400 acres of land at the proposed Andhra Pradesh Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) near Visakhapatnam to the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (Barc).

This apart, it is also going to allot another 1,400 acres of land to Kap Col, a Gujarat-based company with interests in aluminium and chemicals, for a coking coal project.

The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC), the nodal agency for the APSEZ, has recently signed MoUs with both the entities for the allotment of land, officials said.

Senior officials of the state industry department and APIIC held discussions with chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on Wednesday for the immediate release of Rs 100 crore, which is required for the acquisition of land in the SEZ area.

The proposed area, comprising both government and private land, includes assigned farm lands for scheduled caste and scheduled tribe families.

The government has fixed Rs 2.95 lakh per acre as compensation for the private lands. The owners of the assigned lands will be paid 75 per cent of the fixed compensation, the officials said. According to APIIC officials, between Rs 120 crore and Rs 130 crore would be required to complete the land acquisition process.

Of the 9,200 acres of land (across 36.8 kilometres of area) proposed to be developed under the SEZ, APIIC has so far acquired over 3,000 acres of land by spending over Rs 100 crore.

"The acquired land is spread across the proposed area in bits and pieces. We are now going to acquire the land in an integrated manner first in those areas where the land has been earmarked for both Barc and Kap Col," B Satynanarayana, minister for major industries, told Business Standard.

Barc is expected to set up an atomic power research centre, similar to that in Trombay, at the SEZ which is on the strategic east coast of the country. According to industry department officials, the Government of India is expected to spend around Rs 4,000 crore for the new facility in the field of atomic research.

Kap Col, which is into aluminium and chemicals manufacturing in Gujarat, is expected to bring in over Rs 5,000 crore of investments in a joint venture with a couple of Australian and Chinese companies for the proposed coking coal project in Vizag.

The company is yet to submit its proposals to the Commissioner of Industries for the single window clearances for the proposed operations.