In September 2025, the Bengaluru division office wrote to the conservator of forest highlighting the urgent need to file an appeal and secure the land. The letter called the land a ‘forest’ that needs to be saved.
Credit: DH Photo
Four months after the Forest Department decided to file an appeal before the Supreme Court to reclaim 449 acres of forest in Kadugodi worth over Rs 22,000 crore, an Embassy Group company has begun work on an IT park on 78.54 acres of the land.
Documents available with DH show that over 711 acres in survey number 1 of Kadugodi Plantation was notified by the erstwhile Government of Mysore in 1896 and was declared a ‘state forest’ in 1901.
However, the forest department failed to secure the land save for the 120 acres which was reclaimed in June 2025. At the time, Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre had said the department would move the Supreme Court for reopening the case to reclaim the entire plantation. The minister had put the cost of the 120 acres at Rs 4,000 crore in June 2025. The current value is much higher.
In September 2025, the Bengaluru division office wrote to the conservator of forest highlighting the urgent need to file an appeal and secure the land. The letter called the land a ‘forest’ that needs to be saved.
Embassy gets land
However, in June 2025, the state-level expert appraisal committee issued terms of clearance to Embassy East Business Park Private Ltd to develop the township for a mixed-use development project. The 78.5 acres originally belonged to Concord India Pvt Ltd, which in 2020 became an Embassy Group subsidiary. The cost of the IT park and other mixed use of the project was estimated at Rs 7,726 crore last year.
Documents show that the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority had raised a query over the status of the land. “The proposed area appears to be inside the forest, please clarify, land documents and chronology of name changes...,” it had said.
The company, which had dropped the word “private” in its name, replied on December 12, 2025, that the land was leased by Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB). Further, it said environment clearance has been secured as early as 2022. Documents show that the company had proposed to cut 253 trees and relocate 129 others in the proposed project
area.
Department in deep trouble
The forest department has been struggling with legacy problems. During World War II, the military took over 141 acres, while the remaining 572 acres were leased to a cooperative society for farming. In 1985, KIADB acquired 300 acres of this forest by paying Rs 30,000 per acre to the cooperative society, which had no rights to sell the land. Moreover, the acquisition violated the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
The Forest Department’s efforts to recover the 449 acres and 28 guntas from companies that were allotted land by KIADB were dismissed by the high court on the ground that the original notification was not issued by the chief commissioner, as mandated by the Forest Rules 1878.
However, the post of chief commissioner ended on March 25, 1881, when the British handed over the government to Chamarajendra Wadiyar, who issued more than 228 notifications to protect plantations and forests. “This matter was not communicated to the court effectively. As a result, the high court ruled that the land is not forest,” a source said.
In the Supreme Court, the government’s petition explained the error that occurred in the high court but failed to challenge the order. In fact, Karnataka’s appeal sought control over ownership of the 125 acres of forest and never mentioned the 449 acres. More importantly, the government did not seek the quashing of the HC order. In any case, the appeal was dismissed.
In June last year, following the reclamation of 120 acres, the DCF (Bengaluru Urban), wrote to the CCF to get a case filed.