A day after refusing to stop work on the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP), government managers said new compensation package worth approximately Rs 400 crore was in the works. This includes individual payouts of up to Rs 10 lakh per acre to affected families, besides targetted infrastructure projects for community development in the fields of education, health, civic amenities as well as business promotion. The higher compensation of Rs 10 lakh per acre, up from the Rs 4.5 lakh per acre that had been calculated earlier, though, could be made in the form of ex-gratia payment rather than pegging it as value of the land acquired for the project. This was being done, sources said, because any unusually high valuation would set a new benchmark that the government would find difficult to maintain while acquiring land for future projects elsewhere in the state. Officials pointed out that only about 7 per cent of the 938 hectares acquired in four villages in and around Madban in Ratnagiri district where the nuclear plant is coming up, is actually agricultural land. The major part is barren land, they say, and presently valued at between Rs 60,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh per acre. Additionally, the package proposes that one member of each project-affected family will be employed by JNPP, subject to their eligibility. If they do not get employment, they will be provided a one-time compensation that could go up to Rs 5 lakh. Further, cash compensations in the form of rehabilitation grants equal to 750 days minimum agriculture labour wages and a life-time pension for vulnerable persons too have been proposed. In laying emphasis on business promotion as part of community development, the package proposes construction of fishing jetties and cold storages for fishermen, marketing initiatives for local business and commercial shops in and around the NPCIL township exclusively for affected families. Officials said an irradiation centre will be set up for growers of the Alphonso mango, a world renowned variety of the fruit grown in the region. Alphonso growers in Ratnagiri district currently use irradition facilities in Lasalgaon in Nashik district.