BENGALURU: With Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar offering Rs 3 crore per acre as compensation for land to be acquired for the proposed Bidadi Township project, farmers from other parts of the state have started demanding that the same yardstick be adopted for land acquisition for all future infrastructure projects.
However, government officials said that compensation for land to be acquired depends on parameters such as location and “urgency” to implement a development project.
Taking to social media platform ‘X’ on Sunday, Chief Minister Shivakumar said, “The earlier government offered Rs 25 lakh per acre as compensation.
But our government has decided to provide Rs 3 crore per acre. Also, those not keen on this compensation, will be offered 50% of the developed land.”
However, farmers are not happy with the State Government’s decision to acquire fertile land in Bidadi for the proposed AI-City project.
Kurubru Shanthakumar, farmers’ leader, said the state government had earlier stated that no fertile or agricultural land should be acquired for infrastructure projects. But now, the government is going against this decision with the proposed township project to be implemented in Bidadi’s fertile farmland. The State Government should adopt the Bidadi yardstick for compensation for land to be acquired for future development projects across the state, including Tumakuru, Anekal, Pavagada and Ballari.
However, officials from revenue, industries and housing departments said this yardstick can’t be adopted across the state. In the case of Bidadi, the compensation amount has been decided based on the urgency to implement the project, and its proximity and several benefits to Bengaluru, an official said.
Earlier, the compensation amount was calculated based on the 1984 Land Acquisition Act. But now, the 2013 Act is being followed. Under the 2013 Act, land losers were given thrice the guidance value of their land for the Outer Ring Road Project. But in the case of Bidadi, an additional component has been added—consent award. Under this, both parties quote their preferred amount of compensation and later an amount is fixed as per their satisfaction, the official furhter said.
While farmers from Bidadi stated that they did not quote any amount and are not keen on handing over their land, the government has announced Rs 3 crore as compensation for one acre of land, Shanthakumar said.
The official said, “Since Bidadi is an important project for Bengaluru, this compensation is being offered. It can be done for Mekedatu and the second airport projects. But it will also depend on the executing agency and the final government order. In other districts, it will be difficult because the land value and guidance value are not high. It also depends on what farmers demand and what the government agrees to.”
