Bengaluru, 20 May

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday said that the proposed Greater Bengaluru Integrated Suburban Township Project at Bidadi near Ramanagara has secured consent from nearly 80 per cent of farmers, with compensation disbursal set to begin from 1 June.

Addressing reporters in Bengaluru, Shivakumar said financial allocations for the Rs 18,133 crore project would start from the first week of June, following village-wise notifications to be issued within three days. He said farmers had urged the government to expedite compensation, and that slightly higher compensation was being offered.

The project, approved by the State Cabinet on 30 April, will cover around 7,481 acres across nine villages in Bengaluru South district and Ramanagara taluk. Shivakumar said the township would be integrated through Kanakapura Road, Bengaluru–Mysuru Road, NICE Road and the Satellite Town Ring Road (STRR), with nearly 40km of road connectivity planned.

He said the initiative, which had earlier been linked to private participation through DLF before being withdrawn, was not new and had originated during a previous tenure of former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy. He added that the area had since been classified as a “red zone”, restricting private transactions, with court orders upholding the status.

Shivakumar also challenged Kumaraswamy’s criticism of the project, saying he was ready for a public debate at any time. He urged the Union Minister to focus instead on reducing steel and cement prices.

Rejecting allegations of “real estate mafia”, he said previous governments had also initiated private involvement in the project and accused the Opposition of politicising development.

He said farmers had been advised not to rush land sales, adding that property values would rise significantly after infrastructure development.

In a separate statement marking three years of the Congress government, Shivakumar said Karnataka’s guarantee schemes had become a national model, benefiting about 1.34 crore families with nearly Rs 1.30 lakh crore in welfare spending. He said schemes such as Gruha Lakshmi, Gruha Jyothi, Shakti, Anna Bhagya and Yuva Nidhi had been widely recognised and even studied by international institutions.