Officials claim land acquisition for road project; Land-owners told it’s for Nano plant.
Amidst speculation over which state will finally bag Tata’s dream car project, the Gujarat government has quietly started the land acquisition process near Charodi in Ahmedabad, believed to be the site where the project may be relocated.
Even as Gujarat is battling it out with Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the officials in the state government have maintained a studied silence over the incentive package being worked out for Tata Motors.
Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi had met Tata Motors CMD Ravi Kant at his official residence on September 20, where possible sites like Mundra, Savli near Vadodara and Charodi were discussed.
While the state government has decided to transfer the 2200 acre land belonging to Anand Agriculture University’s North Cote Cattle Farm near Charodi last week, the Ahmedabad collectorate started the process of acquiring private land from today.
Ahmedabad collector Harish Shukla and his team today held meetings with four farmers and owner of a local factory for acquiring land for Nano project. The meeting centered around acquiring 2.50 lakh sq. ft area spanning between Chharodi bus stop to North Cote Cattle Farm.
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The acquition of cattle farm coincided with Tata's decision to move out of West Bengal leading speculations that the land was acquired by the government for Nano project as Gujarat is one of the four states that Tata is negotiating with for relocation of their plant.
However, government officials from state's industries department, district collectorate and revenue department are refraining from making any comments. Treading cautious amid speculations, government officials say that the land is being acquired for road projects, while the owners of the acquired land are informed that the land is for Nano plant.
“Government officials have told me that the land has been acquired by the government for Tata’s Nano car project,” said Raviraj Foils chairman Ravubha Vaghela, from whom the state government today acquired 30 acres (1.25 lakh sq. mt) land at a price of Rs. 1,100 per sq. mt.
“The price which the state government offered me is much lower than the market price of the land. However, when government officials informed that the land is going to be used for Tata’s Nano plant, I chose to incur losses of Rs. 18 to Rs. 20 crore in the interest of Gujarat”, he added.
“However, officials have assured us that whatever additional price we will get from the company, the benefit would be pass on to us,” he said. When contacted, Ahmedabad collector confirmed acquistion of over 2.50 lakh sq. mt land at Chharodi in Sanand. However, he maintained that the land has been acquired for four-lane road project.