According to experts, the prices of prime locations in Punjab have shot up by 40-55% in the last two years. The cash-strapped state, which needs to push the growth of industrialisation, is facing shortage of land, resulting in increase of prices. The reality can be measured from a fact that recently the state government acquired 300 acres for the upcoming Mohali international airport for which the government paid a compensation of Rs 1.5 crore per acre to farmers whose land was possessed. This was the highest ever compensation paid for acquisition by a state government to farmers which has certainly set a standard. Besides that, Punjab has fertile land and in the previous past various examples have been set where the land has been sold at exorbitant prices, said president of Punjab Builders and Coloniser Association, Mr. Kulwant Singh.