Township plan may relegate Kunigal stud farm to history pages

Bangalore Rural MP D K Suresh and Kunigal Congress MLA Dr H D Ranganath have reportedly submitted a proposal to develop a township at Kunigal stud farm, said to be the biggest in the country.

The history of the stud farm goes back to the time of Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan, who bred horses here for his cavalry to fight the British. The stock breed from here is famous not only in the country, but also overseas.

It is the only stud farm in the country owned by a state government and is the biggest in South Asia.

The proposal has come under the scanner as Suresh and Ranganath are close relatives of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar. 

B’lore Turf Club

As per the proposal, 100 acres of the 421.23 acres of this farm can be transferred to Bangalore Turf Club to relocate it from Bengaluru to Kunigal.

The remaining 321 acres land can be used to develop a township to ease Bengaluru’s congestion.  

A senior official from the urban development (UD) department told DH that the stud farm was under control of the animal husbandry department. 

If the township proposal has to be executed, the entire land will have to be transferred to the UD department. 

“The proposal is being discussed at the level of the ministers of the two departments. The ministers have agreed to conduct a feasibility study,” the officer said.

‘More jobs, revenue’

Ranganath, the Kunigal MLA, told DH that the proposal was aimed at creating more jobs and bring in revenue. 

“Is it fair to hand over the massive chunk of land for an annual rent of just Rs 1.41 crore? Our proposal will ensure that the exchequer gets an additional Rs 300 crore and create 2,000 jobs in Kunigal,” he said.

Ranganath said the horse breeders’ lobby was working against the project.

“These breeders earn profits in crores by selling colts and they even tried to bribe us to drop this proposal. We will not allow them to succeed,” he said.

He said the township proposal aims at creating
corporate office space on the lines of Silicon Valley, USA. 

‘Move to gobble up land’

Former Kunigal MLA B B Ramaswami Gowda alleged that the proposal was a systematic plan to gobble up the entire land.

“If the proposers had the intention of developing the town, they could have started off with Kunigal town, which is not properly developed. The bigger plan is to gobble up several parcels of lands attached to this farm at Doddakere, Ramabanada Hanta, Herur Kaval and Begur Kaval,” he said. 

“The farm should continue to be owned by the government. It can be handed over to the Home department’s cavalry division, but not to private entities,” he said.

Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda wrote to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on December 28, appealing to protect the farm by declaring it as an archaeological monument.

Lease history

The farm was given on lease to United Racing and Bloodstock Breeders Limited, of United Breweries Group owned by Vijay Mallya. The lease ended on September 30, 2022. 

Bids were called for a new lease. The bid for Rs 1.4 crore by Villoo Poonawalla Greenfield Farms was accepted. The bid now stands cancelled.