Durgapur, Dec. 24: Villagers set to lose their land to the proposed airport city project in Andal today said they wanted direct talks with the developers and demanded jobs and shares as promised by the Jindals in Salboni.

Bengal Aerotropolis Proj-ects Ltd needs around 3,500 ac- res for the Rs 10,000-crore plan in Andal, Burdwan, 220km from Calcutta.

Most of the land has to be acquired from villagers. In Salboni, West Midnapore, Jindal had to acquire only 500 acres because the government had the remaining 4,000 acres.

In Salboni, every landloser family has been promised jobs and stocks of JSW Bengal Steel during the first issue of shares to public.

“We want the same package. We don’t want the government to come between us and the promoters,” said Susanta Dutta, 34, who owns around eight acres of single-crop land.

In Andal, landlosers were offered between Rs 7.5 lakh and Rs 11.24 lakh an acre depending on the fertility and location of their plots. They were also promised a 1-cottah plot outside the project area for every bigha acquired.

Some 500 villagers like Dutta have formed the Committee to Protect Andal Landowners’ and Farmers’ Interests.

The committee also wants a higher price for their land.

Arjun Mondal, 82, who has 20 acres, demanded Rs 18 lakh an acre and a job for his 34-year-old-son, who is a graduate but unemployed.

Land belonging to nearly 19,000 villagers has been identified for the project that includes an airport, IT park, industry clusters, shopping malls, housing complexes, hospitals and educational institutes.

A Bengal Aerotropolis official said it would be impossible to negotiate with 19,000 villagers. “It would be impossible for us to go and talk to each villager. This is why we spoke to the political parties that represent the villagers.”

All parties except the Trinamul Congress, which boycotted the meetings called by the district magistrate, had agreed to the government’s offer.