For nearly two decades, a stretch of fertile farmland on the outskirts of Bengaluru in Bengaluru South district (formerly Ramanagara) has been at the centre of a slow-moving land dispute. Now, it has reached a flashpoint.
The Karnataka government has issued a final notification to acquire 518 acres of land for the proposed Bidadi Township project, going ahead despite more than 15 months of sustained protests by farmers in the affected villages.
What is the project?
The Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township (GBIT), popularly known as the Bidadi Township, is proposed across approximately 9,600 acres spanning nine revenue villages and 16 non-revenue villages in Bidadi, about 40 kilometres from Bengaluru.
The government describes it as India's first AI-powered Work-Live-Play township and one of five major infrastructure projects being spearheaded by Chief Minister DK Shivakumar — alongside tunnel roads, elevated corridors, the Bengaluru Business Corridor and roads along drain buffers.
The project has a long institutional history. It was originally notified by former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy in 2006 and that approximately 1,000 acres were acquired and allotted by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board during the subsequent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.
The Congress, in turn, describes it as Kumaraswamy's “brainchild”. The project was placed on hold under the first Siddaramaiah government pending Parliament's passage of a land acquisition law, then revived under successive administrations with varying compensation models. The executing agency is the Greater Bengaluru Development Authority (GBDA), established by the current government specifically for this purpose.
Of the total proposed area, around 1,800 acres have been earmarked for residential layouts, while 5,681 acres are to be developed as bulk land for multi-storied buildings. Nearly 44.5% of the total land area is projected to constitute saleable space. The government describes the project as capable of decongesting Bengaluru, creating one lakh jobs with a focus on local employment and boosting the state's economy.
How is it being financed?
The overall project cost, including land acquisition, is estimated at Rs 18,133 crore. The government plans to finance it entirely through borrowings and internal resource mobilisation. The Housing and Urban Development Corporation is expected to provide Rs 9,011 crore as a loan, with the Bengaluru Development Authority contributing Rs 3,000 crore and another Rs 3,500 crore to be raised by mortgaging civic amenity sites. The civil works component is estimated at Rs 6,580 crore.
The GBDA has also floated a Rs 26-crore tender to appoint a consultant for preparing a master plan, detailed project report and project management services — a 12-month engagement covering road network, parks, civic amenities, and land parcels for industrial and commercial use. This came even as the compensation disbursal process was still being initiated.
Who is losing land, and on what terms?
The first phase covers 518.45 acres across three villages – Kempayyanapalya (384.22 acres), Mandalahalli (71.13 acres) and Vaderahalli (63.10 acres) – affecting around 754 farmers. The Urban Development Department has fixed a minimum compensation of Rs 2.07–2.14 crore per acre, and more than 200 farmers have applied for compensation.
But many are refusing to accept the offer. Farmer groups have warned of a large-scale agitation on the lines of the historic farmer movements in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, with plans to bring in influential farm unions from those states. Forty farmer organisations are also preparing to move court, alleging that the GBDA has not obtained the consent of 80% of the affected landowners as required.
What is the environmental cost?
An RTI response from the Horticulture Department, obtained by The Hindu, shows that acquiring all nine revenue villages could lead to the felling of nearly two lakh trees by February 2026. The affected vegetation includes 87,903 coconut trees, 83,536 arecanut trees, over 3 lakh banana plants, 12,550 mango trees, 2,344 chikoo trees, besides rose plants, custard apple trees, silk fields, and crops such as ragi, paddy, and red gram. Ragi alone is cultivated across 231 acres in the proposed acquisition area.
Why are farmers resisting?
The core objection is not only about price. Farmers describe the land as productive agricultural terrain that has sustained families across generations. The area has a cattle population of 50,000 that produces nearly six lakh litres of milk monthly for the city. Ramanagara and neighbouring districts have historically served as Bengaluru's food basket, with investments in irrigation under the Mysuru region sustaining farm activity for decades.
Protesters have been holding continuous demonstrations for over 400 days. More than 10,000 of the affected farmers are described as small and marginal landholders, 60% of them owning half an acre or one acre. The farmer organisation Raithara Bhoohitha Rakshana Sangha has alleged that the Joint Measurement Survey conducted by the GBDA was carried out without transparency and under coercion.
What is the political dimension?
The Bidadi Township project has become a high-profile contest between Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy, both of whom draw significant support from the Vokkaliga community in the region.
Shivakumar has pushed back against criticism of the project. "This is not a township conceived by me. It was originally notified by former CM Kumaraswamy himself. During the previous BJP government, about 1,000 acres were acquired and allotted by KIADB," he told reporters on June 15.
The opposition has taken the unusual step of writing separately to Congress leader and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, urging him to intervene. In a letter dated June 14, Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra accused the Congress government of disregarding the concerns of more than 3,500 farmers from 25 villages opposing the acquisition. He described the project as a "state-engineered land grab" and appealed to Rahul Gandhi to direct the state government to withdraw the notifications.
Karnataka Pradesh Yuva Janata Dal (Secular) president Nikhil Kumaraswamy wrote to Rahul Gandhi alleging that the state government had issued final land acquisition notifications without securing adequate public consent and that the acquisition would disproportionately impact small and marginal farmers, Dalits, backward class communities and landless agricultural labourers. He further alleged that the government had bypassed safeguards under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Act, 2013.
Kumaraswamy has described the project as a "government real estate project" that benefits land mafias and drew a contrast with industrial townships in Gujarat, which he said were built on dry and uncultivable land, unlike the fertile agricultural land being acquired at Bidadi. He also made pointed personal remarks about the growth of Shivakumar's assets over the past two and a half decades.
Within the ruling party, Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi publicly expressed concern over the growing discontent and indicated the matter could come up at the Cabinet meeting scheduled for June 20.
Farmer groups have also written to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, pointing to the contradiction between the party's stated position on farmer rights in northern India and its actions in Karnataka.
