Swanky cars on the narrow, dusty bylanes, the lingering fragrance of high-end perfume in the air and the rush of the flashy and the flamboyant all day – Tullur, the nondescript village in Guntur district, is relishing its brush with riches.
The cow dung pasted walls are still there as are the overflowing drains, but these would soon be past. The Andhra government’s decision to locate its new capital around this village, also a mandal headquarters, has brought a sudden change in the economy of the area, and a corresponding shift in lifestyle.
The rich and the influential have started descending on Tullur and villages around it, offering wads of currency to the locals in exchange for huge tracts of land. An acre in Tullur and surrounding villages like Pedaparimi that used to cost around Rs 5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh depending on whether it's dry land or wet land is now costing a bomb. The moment Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu came up with map of the State Capital Region, the prices skyrocketed. The base price soared by 10 times from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 50 lakh an acre and the highest price offered to a piece of land was Rs 1.60 crore an acre at Rayapudi on the banks of the Krishna.
And it is not only land owners who are making a killing. Everyone, from rural medical practitioners, to auto-rickshaw drivers, to daily wage-earners who used to go to Guntur every day to eke out a living, has turned a real estate broker, negotiating deals with land sharks on behalf of the farmers. An auto-rickshaw driver made Rs 5 lakh in just one transaction on a single day. Real estate businessmen and brokers are having a field day.
The most interesting part is that about five currency counting machines were brought to the village and the lenders are charging Rs 1,000 for counting cash of Rs 1 crore. Due to the huge difference between the registration value and the actual price of the land, most transactions take place in cash.
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