Land acquisition cost in Maharashtra high: Nitin Gadkari

04 Oct 2021 CW Team

Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari told the media the land acquisition cost is high in Maharashtra and had directed the state government to lower the rates.

On Saturday, speaking at a function in Ahmednagar, Gadkari said that the secretary of his department had even circulated an order that they would not undertake any new road project in Maharashtra unless the state government reduces the land purchase cost. He said that the land procurement costs Rs 18 crore per acre in Maharashtra.

Gadkari said that reducing the land acquisition cost did not imply that the farmers would suffer a financial loss. He will guarantee that they (farmers) get a more attractive rate and are not at loss for parting with their land. But the road ministry is not in a position to acquire land at a high cost as apart from constructing roads, other infrastructures like roadside amenities, bus stands, etc have to be installed by them.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) will be executing the Surat-Chennai greenfield expressway project worth Rs 50,000 crore, which will pass via Ahmednagar, Nashik, and Solapur. This project will be connected up to Hyderabad and Kochi. Once this project is complete, it would relieve the traffic from North India in districts such as Kolhapur. It includes 180 km in Ahmednagar district, and the ministry will spend Rs 8,000 crore in this district.

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Also read: 76 national highway projects of about Rs 62k cr face inordinate delays

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