Jewar airport: When farmers became crorepatis overnight, then lost it all on luxuries

For generations, land was the farmers' only steady asset, producing food, income and security. Compensation replaced that asset with a lump sum, but this money came without financial planning support, guidance or long-term safeguards.

When India’s largest airport began rising in Jewar, Uttar Pradesh, local farmers had to part with 12,000 acres of fertile land. In return, they were compensated with crores of rupees. For many families, this was wealth they had never imagined. Houses replaced fields. Cars replaced tractors. iPhones replaced basic phones. The life in Jewar’s villages transformed, propelled into locally unheard levels of prosperity. But just ahead of the airport’s expected inauguration, some of that sheen appears to be weaning off.

“I Bought a 90,000 Phone. Now I Can’t Fix It.”

Mohd. Kaif, a farmer’s son, shows his smartphone, bought for nearly 90,000 when compensation money arrived. Today, the screen is damaged. He runs the phone by attaching a makeshift charger, unable to afford repairs.

“We go to the fields by travelling in a Thar now,” says Ismail Khan, a farmer. “But we don’t have any money left even for petrol.”

Another points to what remains of his purchases: an iPhone 11 Pro Max, now sold, replaced by a cheaper Android phone.

One village home looks like a luxury hotel lobby. Marble floors. Stylish living room, a kitchen equipped with a modern chimney. An investment of nearly 3 crore in construction alone.