CPI seeks compensation or return of land to farmers in Eluru district

The Communist Party of India (CPI) has appealed to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to immediately compensate farmers whose lands have been acquired for a proposed industrial project in Eluru district or return the lands without further delay.

In a letter to the Prime Minister on Friday, December 26, 2025, CPI State Secretary G. Eswaraiah said that around 340 acres of land has been acquired from farmers in Vatloor village in Pedapadu mandal for setting up VEM Technology, an aircraft components manufacturing unit. Even though the project was announced in 2016 and the land was allocated through the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC), the unit never came up and the farmers were not compensated. Many have continued to work the land for almost a decade amid uncertainty, he said.

Mr Eswaraiah said the project was stalled after the YSR Congress Party came to power in 2019. APIIC reportedly regained possession of the land from the company in 2022, but the land was neither used nor returned to the farmers. As a result, many farming families face serious financial difficulties, especially during marriage and other social obligations.

Recalling that compensation of ₹2.5 lakh per acre was promised in 2016, the CPI leader said that conditions have changed since then. He demanded the government to immediately review and release the compensation or return the land to the affected farmers to ensure justice to the farming community.