The Pune district administration will compulsorily acquire the remaining 40 hectares required for the proposed Purandar international airport after landowners in Pargaon refused to provide consent despite two deadline extensions. Pune District Collector Jitendra Dudi said the acquisition would be carried out in the coming days.
The administration said the affected landowners will not receive the additional benefits and facilities offered to farmers who voluntarily consented to the acquisition. The decision follows the completion of the consent process for the airport project, which requires 1,216 hectares across seven villages in Purandar taluka.
The villages identified for the project include Kumbharvalan, Vanpuri, Ekhhatpur, Pargaon, Munjwadi and Khanwadi. According to the district administration, 96% of farmers have agreed to the land acquisition, while 76% of the total land required for the project has been handed over to the administration.
The state government has announced compensation of ₹1.61 crore per acre for the land. Landowners will also receive separate compensation for trees, wells and existing structures located on their properties. The administration said funds for the acquisition process had been released by the state government and that compensation totalling ₹4,000 crore had been credited to farmers’ bank accounts.
The remaining resistance has been concentrated in Pargaon, where some farmers have opposed the acquisition of the final 40 hectares. The administration extended the deadline for submitting consent letters twice, but the affected landowners did not agree to the acquisition voluntarily.
The farmers opposing the project had also challenged the proposed airport in the Bombay High Court. The district administration said the court dismissed their petition against the project. The administration has now decided to proceed with compulsory acquisition rather than extend the consent process further.
The distinction between voluntary and compulsory acquisition will affect the compensation package available to the remaining landowners. While the administration has stated that the statutory compensation will be paid, it has also clarified that those whose properties are acquired compulsorily will not be eligible for the additional benefits and facilities offered to farmers who consented voluntarily.
The airport’s land requirement and the scale of compensation make the acquisition a significant administrative step in the project’s progress. The immediate implementation milestone is the compulsory acquisition of the remaining 40 hectares in Pargaon and the completion of the land transfer process for the proposed airport site.
