Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday asked district collectors to ensure that farmers who gave their land for the construction of national highways get maximum compensation as per law.

Revanth Reddy, who held a meeting with ministers and officials on the problems faced in construction of highways by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), asked them about the reasons for the delay in land acquisition.

An official release said collectors informed them that farmers were not coming forward to give their land as the market value of the land was higher than the government registration prices.

Noting that farmers would lose their hereditary land permanently when they hand over the land to the government, the CM urged collectors to try to convince the farmers by inviting them.

The CM inquired about land acquisition in connection with various National Highway projects including the Nagpur-Vijayawada Corridor.

State Roads and Buildings Minister Komatireddy Venkata Reddy urged that work on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada National Highway extension be started immediately as land acquisition has already been completed. An NHAI official replied that the work would start in two months, the release said.