The Andhra Pradesh government on Saturday offered a series of measures, including enhancing annuity payment and waiving off crop loans up to… $1.5 lakh to Amaravati farmers, who have given up their land for the second phase of land pooling as part of expansion of the capital region, people familiar with the development said.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced the measures at a meeting with farmers of Tadikonda and Pedakorappadu districts at his residence in Undavali on Friday evening. “The meeting continued beyond midnight and after listening to the demands of the farmers, the Prime Minister agreed to some of their demands,” a Capital Region Development Authority official told AP.
An official statement from the Chief Minister’s Office said that under the agreed terms, the state government will increase the annual premium from $30,000 per acre per annum is paid to farmers in the first stage of land pooling $40,000 per acre annually.
“This premium will be paid to farmers for 10 years. In addition, the government will increase the premium by $3000 every year. The Prime Minister also agreed to waive agricultural loans of up to… $1.5 lakh per farmer,” the statement said.
Under the second phase of land pooling, the state government proposes to acquire 16,666.57 acres for development of major capital infrastructure, including the proposed railway station, sports city, airport, smart city and inner ring road.
According to Municipal Administration Minister P Narayana, APCRDA has identified seven villages where the land will be pooled and acquired: Vaikunthapuram: 3,361 acres; Pedamadoro: 1,145 acres; Endroy: 2,166 acres; Karlapodi: 2,944 acres; Vadamano: 1,913 acres; Harichandrapuram: 2,418 acres; and Pidabarimi: 6,513 acres.
In the first phase of land pooling in 2015-16, the Naidu government acquired 34,000 acres under the land pooling system. Now, with the proposed acquisition of another 16,666 acres, the total land contributed by farmers in the capital will be estimated at 50,000 acres.
When combined with the allocated government lands, the total area allocated for acquisition in Phase 2 reaches 20,494 acres.
Naidu urged farmers to cooperate with the second phase of land pooling, noting that the Center is providing full support and the construction of Amaravati is progressing rapidly, the official statement said.
Reiterating his commitment, the Prime Minister said that he had taken on the responsibility of building a world-class capital city and called on farmers to act as “brand ambassadors” for Amaravati.
Compared to the transformation witnessed in Hyderabad, he said the value of land there has gone up from lakh to crore and expressed confidence that Amaravati will see greater growth. He also noted that legal support has been secured to ensure that the capital does not face any future obstacles.
About 70 farmers from the capital region participated in the meeting and put forward demands including enhanced annuities and loan waivers.
