RAMANATHAPURAM
Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation, which is facing legal hurdles in taking over 360 acres of patta lands for setting up 2x800 MW supercritical thermal power plant at Uppur in the district at a cost of over ₹ 12,000 crore, is all set to award compensation to owners of 408 patta lands, already alienated.
Officials said the government had finalised the market value of lands at ₹ 1 lakh per acre of wetland and ₹ 60,000 to ₹ 80,000 per acre of dry land and Tangedco proposed to award 2.5 times of the market value as compensation.
As per the rate finalised by the government, a person who owned 10 acres of wetland would be given a compensation of ₹ 25 lakh with 12% towards ‘additional market value’ from November 23, 2015, when the district administration gave ‘enter upon’ permission, till September 30, 2018, the officials said.
“We will start distributing compensation later this month,” the officials said, adding Tangedco had already deposited ₹ 5.21 crore for this purpose. The total compensation for the 408 acres of land would work out to about ₹ 15 crore, they said.
Contrary to the expectation that the landowners would get a compensation of four times of the market value as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Tangedco would award a maximum of 2.5 times as the area acquired for the power plant fell within 30 km of the project site, they said.
As per the Government Order dated February 21, 2018, owners of patta lands, which fell within 30 km of the project site in urban areas (where the market value is high), would get 2.5 times of the market value, and those whose lands fell beyond 30 km and within 50 km distance would get three times the market value and those with lands falling beyond 50 km four times, the officials said.