Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy will distribute pattas to farmers who lost their land for the Hyderabad Pharma City project, which is now being redeveloped as Bharat Future City. Recently, officials allotted developed plots to 4,174 farmers through a draw of lots, with the registration process conducted free of cost.
Official sources said that the CM will personally hand over the registration documents during a public meeting in Kandukur, on the outskirts of the city, in the first week of August. The area is part of the Bharat Future City, and the meeting aims to further involve the local community in the development project. It is expected that Revanth Reddy will appeal to additional farmers to contribute their land for the ongoing expansion of the Future City, which requires an additional 16,000 acres.
The Bharat Future City, which will span across 30,000 acres between the Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar highways, is seen as a major project to boost industrial and infrastructural growth in the region. Previously, the BRS government acquired about 14,000 acres for the Hyderabad Pharma City project. These land parcels are being repurposed for the Future City. The government expects to acquire the additional 16,000 acres primarily through land pooling, though it has faced resistance from some farmers.
In an effort to ease this resistance, the government plans to compensate farmers with developed plots in areas like Meerkhanpet in Kandukur mandal. This initiative follows a draw of lots held last month, where plots were allocated to farmers who had surrendered their land for the Pharma City.
The government has provided 121-sq. yard developed plots for each acre of land lost, while farmers who lost less than an acre were allotted 60-sq. yard plots. The plots were allotted in addition to the compensation amount of `16.5 lakh per acre for patta land and `8.5 lakh per acre for assigned land.
In total, 4,174 farmers were eligible for plot allotments, but only 2,602 attended the draw of lots. The remaining 1,572 farmers either stayed absent due to pending court cases regarding land acquisition or are suspected to be fake beneficiaries. Investigations are underway to identify the reasons for their absence.
The allocation includes various sizes of plots, such as 60-sq. yards, 121-sq. yards, and up to 544-sq. yards, depending on the size of the land lost. The Telangana Industrial and Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC), which developed the layout, has borne the registration expenses on behalf of the farmers.
With the handover of documents in August, the government aims to expedite the works of Future City, while addressing farmers’ concerns through compensation and incentives.
