Bengaluru, 5 Sept

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that the government, through the Greater Bengaluru Comprehensive Suburb Project, aims to build the country’s first AI city. He continued his push for the Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township (GBIT) land acquisition, which has been greeted with stiff opposition from protesting farmers.

He said that the GBIT will convert 2,000 acres of land into a dedicated hub for AI and tech companies with 950 accres of green buffers, lakes and parks. He claimed that it would benefit farmers and locals, saying that “lakhs of jobs” will be created with a “locals-first employment policy,”

“GBIT is not just a township - it’s the future of Bengaluru,” he wrote on X.

This comes after the State Cabinet on Thursday approved the Metro Elevated Corridor, and consented to the construction of a 37.121 km long double-decker.

However, the land acquisition project has not been welcomed by farmers, despite Shivakumar saying that the project would “provide necessary assistance” to them.

"They are my people. They are our farmers,” he told press on Friday. “I have the right to talk to them. I also know which party some of the farmers belonged to.”

He claimed that 82 per cent of the farmers consented to the land acquisition, revising the 70 per cent number he gave on Thursday.

“We have to keep the entire State in mind while deciding the compensation and hence we can't give more compensation,” he added.  “We can't de-notify the project until the Supreme Court gives its final orders."