Farmers’ activist group Samyukta Horata Karnataka on Monday questioned a decision of the state government to set a three-month deadline for farmers in Bengaluru’s Devanahalli region to sell their land to the state Industrial Area Development Board.
The move comes in the wake of a government order issued earlier in the day to return 1,777 acres of land, acquired for Phase-II of the Aerospace Park in Devanahalli, back to the farmers following protests.
“Once the notification issued for the land acquisition process for a specific purpose is cancelled, no land acquisition process can be started without issuing a new notification for a new purpose. The very statement that land should be given within three months without any new notification is illegal,” Samyukta Horata leaders said in a statement.
At a Cabinet meeting held on December 4, the Karnataka government had decided to drop the acquisition of 1,777 acres in Channarayapatna village of Devanahalli taluk, near the Bengaluru International Airport, for the creation of phase-II of the Aerospace Park following Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s assurance to protesting farmers in July.
However, following the decision to release the land back to farmers, the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) moved to declare the entire area as a “Permanent Special Agriculture Zone”.
The December 8 government order for the denotification of the land from acquisition had merely stated that the farmers would have an option to sell their denotified land back to KIADB within three months.
‘Blackmail tactic to intimidate farmers’
“Samyukta Horata Karnataka welcomes the order to denotify 13 villages belonging to Channarayapatna hobli (administrative unit) in Devanahalli taluk. However, farmers have been given a three-month deadline and those who wish to sell their land to KIADB can do so within that time,” Samyukta Horata leaders Badagalapura Nagendra and T Yashwant said in its statement.
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“The denotification order also states that the land that remains unsold will be declared as a permanent special agricultural zone and will be entered as such in the land register. It has also been stated that an expert committee will be formed to prepare the outlines of the permanent special agricultural zone,” the statement added.
It alleged that the efforts were part of a “government-sponsored real estate business that is being run illegally to grab as much land as possible from farmers” and said the organisation “strongly condemns this.” The group has termed the move to declare the region a permanent special agricultural zone “a blackmail tactic to intimidate farmers and grab land.”
“This is highly condemnable and a cunning ploy to scare farmers… This has exposed that the state government is a puppet of real estate and corporate powers,” the statement added.
Notification for the acquisition and withdrawal
The preliminary notification for the acquisition of the 1,777 acres of farm land at Devanahalli was issued on August 27, 2021, during the tenure of the BJP government, for the development of Aerospace Park Phase-II across 13 villages of Channarayapatna.
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The final notifications were issued on June 28, 2024, and April 19, 2025, by the Congress government for the acquisition of 1,281 of the 1,777 acres identified in 10 villages. This excluded 495 acres of land in three villages.
Farmers and various other organisations opposed to the acquisition staged protests for nearly three years, demanding that the process be scrapped. The agitation by the farmers in the Devanahalli-Channarayapatna region reached a flash point on June 25 this year after the police allegedly used force to disperse a protest and arrested some leaders. Several national farmers’ unions, including the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) and the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, objected to the use of police force.
“KIADB had already acquired 6,000 acres from surrounding villages for the Haralur Industrial Area. Thousands of farmers and villagers were evicted in those earlier acquisitions but no rightful compensation was awarded to them. In this context, the farmers firmly opposed the acquisition attempt for another 1,777 acres from the beginning under the banner of ‘KIADB Land Acquisition Resistance Struggle Committee’,” a statement by the SKM said in July.
The acquisition plan was dropped after Siddaramaiah met protesting farmers on July 15 and promised them that the state would not acquire the 1,777 acres of farmland which was notified as “industrial area”.
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“There is no precedent for exclusion of land once notified for acquisition for such a purpose. But in this case, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Industries Minister M B Patil have made a pro-farmer decision,” K H Muniyappa, a Congress minister in charge of the region, said earlier.
However, the Cabinet note issued on December 4 says, “Since the farmers have stated that they are cultivating this land and are dependent on it and since the CEO & EM (Executive Member), KIADB has requested the Government to declare the entire area as a ‘Permanent Special Agriculture Zone’ to continue as a green zone, the Urban Development Department should notify this area as a ‘Permanent Special Agriculture Zone’ in its Master Plan.”
The farmer unions have accused the Siddaramaiah government of following the footsteps of the BJP government despite an assurance ahead of the 2023 state polls to withdraw the notification for land acquisition if the Congress came to power.
Expansion of Aerospace Park
The first phase of the Aerospace Park in Devanahalli features a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for research and development, manufacturing, and testing. It is home to companies like Boeing, Airbus, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Wipro and other multinational firms.
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Karnataka has created an ecosystem for setting up and operating aerospace and defence companies, which contribute 25 per cent to India’s aircraft and spacecraft industry. Nearly 67 per cent of all aircraft and helicopters produced for defence services are manufactured in the state. Karnataka also contributes 65 per cent to the country’s aerospace-related exports.
To attract more investments in the sector, the state government announced the Aerospace and Defence Policy, 2022-27. It aims to attract investments of Rs 45,000 crore and create employment opportunities for 60,000 people.
The expansion of the Aerospace Park at Devanahalli was proposed by the state to achieve the objectives set out under the Aerospace and Defence Policy.