Residents in Ayyampuzha panchayat whose land will be acquired for the proposed Global Industrial Finance and Trade (GIFT) City project are likely to get compensation by April. State government sources said on Sunday that there were some technical issues which were expected to be settled soon, paving the way for disbursal of the compensation. Money will be released by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).
A total of nearly ₹850 crore will be disbursed for acquiring about 400 acres for the project, which is a key component in the joint venture between the Union and State governments to establish a non-manufacturing cluster of businesses and finance near the Cochin International Airport. The GIFT City is central to the larger Bengaluru-Kochi Industrial Corridor project.
The project took final shape in 2020 with the decision to develop the Kochi-Coimbatore Industrial Corridor as an extension of the Chennai-Bengaluru Corridor to accelerate development activities along the segments. The National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust approved the extension of the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor to Kochi through Palakkad and Coimbatore.
Roji John, MLA, who raised the issue of payment of compensation to the landowners, said the government was constrained due to lack of money and there appeared to be some uncertainty about a timeline for the payment. He claimed that people whose land had been notified to be taken over were not in a position to leverage their property for getting loans using the land still under their possession.
The Janakeeya Munetta Samithi, which represents people affected by the project, too highlighted the delay and continuing uncertainty over the compensation. The Samithi has reiterated that the compensation should be released at the earliest for the work to begin since the abandoned fields had turned into haunts of wild animals.
