Ahmedabad: The chief project manager of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Project has moved Gujarat High Court, citing fears of a sharp escalation in the Rs 1.1-lakh crore bullet train project cost following enhanced land compensation ordered by the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Authority (LARRA).The bullet train authority estimates that LARRA’s higher awards issued in Jan and Feb could add an additional burden of Rs 40,000 crore, “endangering continuation of the project”, advocate general Kamal Trivedi submitted before HC. The court has admitted three appeals from Surat and Bharuch districts challenging LARRA’s orders.The cases relate to land parcels in Ochhan village in Amod taluka of Bharuch district, acquired after a 2018 notification under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act. In 2020, the acquisition authority fixed compensation at Rs 50 per sq m based on market price, setting compensation in one case at Rs 85.86 lakh. The landowner sought enhancement, after which LARRA ordered payment of Rs 660 per sq m and compensation of Rs 8.46 crore for the same land parcel.Challenging the near tenfold increase, the advocate general told HC that LARRA ignored sale instances in villages near Occhan and instead relied on Simartha, 14km away. He said LARRA used Simartha’s jantri price of Rs 450 per sq m and a 2013 land acquisition instance linked to the Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway, then applied a 10% annual escalation for four years and eight months to arrive at Rs 660 per sq m.In its appeal, the project authority argued that compensation should be based on average sale price of similar land in the nearest village. “However, LARRA has seriously erred in considering the aforesaid award, which refers to the jantri value of the village Simartha, which is situated at the distance of 14km from the land under acquisition in the present proceedings. The same could not have been taken into consideration as the sale deeds of the years from 2015 to 2017 of similar type of lands in the immediate vicinity were available as per Section 26(1)(b),” the appeal states. It adds, “Furthermore, LARRA has also committed an error in relying upon an earlier award referred to above, of a different village i.e. Simartha, since the same is impermissible in view of Explanation 3 to Section 26(1) of the Act.”A bench of Justice Ilesh Vora and Justice R T Vachhani admitted the three appeals on Friday, issued notices and posted the matter for further hearing on Aug 5, when the HC is likely to consider whether to stay LARRA’s order. The court also asked for a reasonable proposal on how much of the award amount the project authority intends to deposit.Trivedi told the court that 85 appeals are in the pipeline, as enhancement orders were passed for multiple land parcels across central and south Gujarat. Including interest, the compensation is estimated to reach nearly Rs 40,000 crore. Underlining the stakes, he submitted, “We will not have the bullet train, if this particular burden is cast upon us. I am making a very bold statement.”
