The DFCC requires around 32 hectare of land to build the portion of the freight corridor.
The ambitious multi-state dedicated freight corridor got a huge boost in Maharashtra with the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC) handing over Rs 608 crores last week to the state government's city and industrial development corporation (Cidco) to acquire 14.4 hectare of the latter's land. This is part of a deal between the two agencies for the land that was first reported by dna in its March 11 edition.
The DFCC requires around 32 hectare of land to build the portion of the freight corridor between JNPT port and Panvel and the two agencies were unable to reach a deal for a long time. While Cidco was demanding around Rs 84 crores per hectare, DFCC was unwilling to pay this high an amount for the land it wanted.
Under the plan agreed upon in March, the Cidco has 14.4 hectare of vacant land which will be given to the DFCC at around Rs 42 crore per hectare, which comes to around Rs 600 crore. It is this money that DFCC paid CIDCO last week. Another 7 hectare land belonging to the revenue department of the state government will be acquired from the state directly by DFCC under rates set down by the collector, said sources.
The third lot of almost 10 hectare is Cidco land that has third party interests (as in private entities using the land under various agreements with Cidco) which will be acquired by the DFCC under the Railways (Amendment) Act, 2008.
According to officials close to the plan, the deal has been worked out with the involvement of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and railway minister Suresh Prabhu and officials of the Prime Minister's Office-controlled Central Project Monitoring Group.
"The project needs to be completed by 2019 and lot of work is going on at different stretches across nine states. The Cidco-DFCC land tussle was one of the biggest hurdles and one part of it is now solved. Now, the tricky part is of course acquiring the 10 hectare land that has third party interests. That might take time but hopefully the state and the railway ministry will ensure the acquisition under the Railways (Amendment) Act, 2008 is done quickly," said an official.
The land game:
Total land required for DFC: 10,548 hectare or 105.48sqkm
Total land cquired: Over 85%
Land acquisition held up on DFC: 440 patches across 358km
Arbitration cases on land acquisition: 6,300 (out of which 3,125 finalised)
Court cases on land acquisition: 1,445 (out of which 432 finalised)
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 "The DFCC requires around 32 hectare of land to build the portion of the freight corridor.")
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