It is reported that Jindal India Limited's 1200 MW thermal power plant proposed to come up at Kaniha near here at an investment of INR 6,000 crore has faced yet another roadblock.

As per report a faction of the land losers have refused to accept the decision taken by the local administration and the company officials in a meeting held recently.

The meeting, presided over by Mr Nirmal Mishra the local sub collector, had decided that depending on the percentage of their land lost, the land losers will get an additional cash compensation ranging from INR 100000 to INR 300000. This additional compensation is beyond what is mentioned in the state's Rehabilitation & Resettlement Policy.

The land losers opposing the decision have announced they would not allow the company to start construction work without fulfillment of their four-point charter of demands.

One of their major demands is payment of INR 1500000 as cash package by Jindal India Power to those land oustees who fail to get a job in the company. Company sources said the construction work on their power plant was running six months behind schedule even though they had paid almost the entire compensation amount to the land losers in all the three affected villages.

A company source said that “We have paid INR 745,000 per acre of land to the land losers, the highest paid by any company in the state. Land acquisition for our power plant is over.”

It may be noted that a solution is yet to be worked out despite 11 meetings held so far involving the local villagers, company officials and the district administration.

Earlier, the Rehabilitation and Peripheral Development Advisory Committee in its meeting failed to take any decision on the issue of payment of cash package to the land losers.

(Sourced from Business Standards)