Curation Team
The Karnataka government will drop plans to acquire land near the international airport in Bengaluru for an aerospace park, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Tuesday, paving the way for a peaceful end to a three-year agitation by farmers.
Farmers from a few villages in Devanahalli taluk have been on a protest resisting acquisition of their farmlands for industrial use.
The CM, after a long discussion with the farmer leaders, said the government, however, was open to buying land from farmers open to giving their land up for industrial use. Such farmers would get higher compensation than the guidance value or a higher share of developed land as compensation, he added.
Such landowners, officials said, can monetize their developed plots, by putting them to commercial use.
The government will allow other farmers, who are not willing to sell their farmlands to the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB), to continue with their farming activities, the CM said.
Siddaramaiah, who himself hails from a farming community in Mysuru, said plots of land in Devanahalli taluk are in great demand by potential investors as the region is close to Bengaluru as well as its international airport. Industries are keen to invest in sites around the airport and if farmers want their incomes to go up, the government will have to make plots of land available for such investments.
The CM acknowledged that Karnataka had never witnessed a protest on this scale by farmers. The land identified for acquisition, he added, was fertile in nature and suitable for agriculture. Farmers there are highly dependent on this land and activists have made it clear that the government must spare it from acquisition, he said.
The government had identified 1,777 acres for acquisition across 13 villages to build a hi-tech industrial park. Investors are keen on plots in Devanahalli and Doddaballapur taluks considering their evolving tech manufacturing ecosystem.
The CM, however, clarified to farmers that dropping land acquisition would mean flight of potential investment to other states. Nevertheless, he said, the government would end the acquisition as it was “pro-farmer”.
The catch
While the protestors walked out with a sense of victory after their meeting with the CM, the implicit message to farmers was that they must either give their land to KIADB or stick to agriculture.
However, senior ministers in the government have come to know that some landowners have already entered into agreements with real estate developers to sell their plots to them. They believe about 300 acres are locked in such deals.
The matter will now go back to the Cabinet, to review the 2022 land acquisition decision and decide on the implementation of Tuesday’s decision. The Cabinet will lay out the broad terms to landowners who wish to retain their land, an official said.
“The thinking in the government is not to allow any other real estate related construction activity in the area. The government will not allow change of land use, (will) encourage farming and treat the un-acquired plots of land as part of the green belt,” he said. It would not be easy for developers to walk away with agricultural land by throwing a spanner into the government’s plans for industrialisation, he added.
Speaking to ET on Monday, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said: “Our government is doing its best to protect the interests of farmers. We don’t want them to fall into the trap of brokers and exploiters.”
