Govt to return 13,788 acres acquired for industrial corridor to owners

The state Cabinet on Wednesday decided to drop the acquisition of 13,788 acres of land meant for the proposed Suvarna Karnataka Industrial Corridor project. The land will be returned to the original owners.

The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) had identified 1,21,386 acres for the corridor project in 2009 and initiated the acquisition process for 80,182 acres. But the board has failed to acquire 39,258 acres even nine years after issuing the preliminary notification. Hence, the Cabinet  dropped acquisition of 13,788 acres of these lands in the first phase. The land will be returned to the original owners, Law Minister T B Jayachandra told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.

These lands are located in Mysuru, Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Davangere, Chikkamagaluru, Vijayapura, Raichur and Belagavi districts. The KIADB is supposed to complete the acquisition process within two years. Delay in the acquisition had resulted in a lot of inconvenience to the original landowners who are mostly farmers. They were neither able to grow anything on the lands nor were they able to raise loans on them, he added.

The minister said the government would drop more lands from the acquisition process, if necessary. “The then government in 2009 had acquired lands recklessly and created land banks. Moreover, a large chunk of these lands is under dispute,” he added. He, however, avoided replying to a question whether the government would drop the corridor project. The KIADB had not given monetary compensation to the original landowners. The government has already done away with the land bank system.

The then BJP government headed by B S Yeddyurappa had proposed the corridor in order to fuel industrial growth in the backward regions of the state. The corridor was planned to extend from Mysuru to Vijayapura, covering 11 districts and 20 major towns. 

Besides, the Cabinet gave its nod for implementing Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana in 271 urban local body limits in the state. The scheme aims to reduce poverty by imparting self-employment training to the poor, especially women and members of self-help groups. The cost of the scheme will be shared between the Centre and the state in the ratio of 60:40, the minister said.

The Cabinet also approved a proposal to rename the women’s university at Vijayapura as Karnataka Rajya Akkamahadevi Women’s University.