The residents of Sanand are turning into crorepatis and the credit goes to the existence of small car factory which has decuple the price of village lands in neighbourhood. A villager claims that the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) paid him Rs. 16 crores for his land. The man who used to ride a bicycle a year ago is now owner of three cars.
The GIDC acquired 2,000 acres in Bhol, a village 2 km away from the Nano plant in Chharodi to convert it into an auto hub. It is expected that the French car maker Peugeot will build a factory on about 500 acres of this land.
The land price in Bhol was less than Rs. 3 lacs per bigha before Tata Motors shifted its Nano plant from Singur to Sanand in 2008. According to the former sarpanch of Barod, Bhol’s 400 farming families were paid at the rate of Rs. 28 lacs per bigha, or about Rs. 70 lacs an acre.
In spite of this, villagers have turned down Nano cars. Ironically, within the radius of 10 km from the Tata Motors factory, only two people own a Nano in the eight villages. The new crorepatis are flaunting their wealth by purchasing luxury cars such as Mercedes, BMWs and Audis.
When served with the notice about the acquisition by GIDC, five villages in the vicinity of Bhol resisted the move, while residents of Bhol played it smart and negotiated the price of their lands, earning crores from the authorities.
