The Karnataka Government has officially decided to drop acquisition of 1,777 acres of land in Channarayapatna village near the Bengaluru International Airport, for the creation of Phase-II of an Aerospace Park, in the wake of protests and an assurance given by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to protesting farmers in July.
The decision to drop the controversial acquisition of land was taken at a Cabinet meeting on Thursday and was announced by Law Minister H K Patil in a press briefing.
The first phase of the Aerospace Park, which has been developed at Devanahalli, features a Special Economic Zone for manufacturing, research and development, and testing and is home to companies like Boeing, Airbus, HAL, Wipro and other MNCs.
A proposal was placed before the state Cabinet on Thursday “to issue a notification under Section 4 of the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Act to delete/exclude a total 1777-021/2 acres/guntas of land in 13 villages of Devanahalli Taluk, Channarayapatna Hobli, Bengaluru Rural District from land acquisition processes and to declare this entire area as a “Permanent Special Agriculture Zone” in order to continue it as a green zone.”
The Cabinet has approved the proposal to drop the land acquisition process despite some of the process reaching the final stages, the law minister said.
The Chief Minister, after a meeting with protesting farmers on July 15, announced that the state would not acquire the 1,777 acres of farm land, which was notified as an industrial area.
The preliminary notification for the land acquisition was issued on August 27, 2021 during the regime of the BJP Government for the development of the Aerospace Park-Phase-II in 13 villages of the Channarayapatna Hobli, Devanahalli Taluk.
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The final notification was issued on June 28, 2024 and April 19, 2025 by the Congress government for the acquisition of 1,281 of the 1,777 acres of land identified in 10 villages. The final notification was not issued for 495 acres of land in three villages.
Farmers and various organisations opposed.the land acquisition for the Aerospace Park and staged protests for nearly three years to scrap the project.
Following the decision of the Karnataka CM to comply with the demands of the farmers, the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) decided to declare the entire area as a “Permanent Special Agriculture Zone”.
“Since the farmers have stated that they are cultivating this land and are dependent on it and since the CEO & EM, 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 (BIAPPA) should notify this area as a “Permanent Special Agriculture Zone” in its Master Plan,” read the Cabinet note on Thursday.
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The farmers’ protests in the Devanahalli-Channarayapatna region had reached a flash point on June 25, after the police allegedly used force to disperse a protest and arrested some leaders. Several national farmers’ unions, including the Samyukta Kissan Morcha (SKM) and the Kissan Sangharsh Samiti objected to the use of police force.
“The 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, under the banner of ‘KIADB Land Acquisition Resistance Struggle Committee’, strongly opposed the acquisition attempt for another 1,777 acres from the beginning,” an SKM statement said in July.
The farmer unions had accused the Siddaramaiah-led Congress Government of following in the footsteps of the BJP Government despite an assurance ahead of the 2023 state polls about withdrawing the notification for land acquisition if the Congress was to be voted to power.
“This is a gross violation of the ‘Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Act -2013’ brought by the UPA-II government led by Congress,” the SKM said amid the protests earlier this year.
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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,”a Congress minister in charge of the region, K H Muniyappa, said earlier.
“Karnataka has generated 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 Karnataka. Karnataka contributes 65% to the country’s Aerospace-related exports,” read the Cabinet note.
The State Government has announced the Aerospace and Defence Policy, 2022-27 to attract more investments in the aerospace and defence sectors. “The policy aims to attract investments of ₹ 45,000 crore and create employment opportunities for 60,000 people,” the cabinet was informed.
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.