The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) on Monday admitted facing difficulty in acquiring land from farmers near the upcoming Noida International Airport with compensation rate being the point of conflict.

The land is to be developed by the YEIDA for industrial, commercial and residential allotment in the region along the Yamuna Expressway’s upcoming sectors 17, 17A, 18, 20, 22D, 22E, 24, etc, it said in a statement after its 77th board meeting held in Greater Noida.

The YEIDA, which functions under the Uttar Pradesh Government, manages land and development along the 165-km-long Yamuna Expressway which covers parts of Gautam Buddh Nagar, Aligarh and Agra districts in western Uttar Pradesh.  YEIDA’s chairman Narendra Bhooshan and CEO Arun Vir Singh, among other officers, attended the meeting.

The YEIDA on Monday said in the last board meeting on February 20, the proposal was approved to acquire land in industrial sectors adjacent to Noida International Airport such as sectors 21, 28, 29, 32, 33, 10 and 9 and for the acquisition of 500 metres of land in the north, east and west sides of the airport for the construction of peripheral road around it and to check encroachment.

The approved rates for land acquisition were Rs 3,100 per square metre (including ex gratia, annuity and seven per cent population plot amount) or Rs 2,728 per square metre (including ex gratia and annuity) along with seven per cent developed plot, it said.

“Now the farmers of the area are demanding a uniform land purchase rate in the YEIDA area and are refusing to give land at lower rates, due to which the authority which is also acquiring land in other sectors like sector 17, 17A, 18, 20, 22E, 22D, 24 etc, is facing difficulties in purchasing land for other important projects such as institutional, residential, commercial, industrial, etc,” the YEIDA said in the statement.