Global players bid for design, planning of Bidadi AI township

Farmers, however, are unhappy with the latest development and accused the State government of ‘backstabbing’ them.

Even as protests by farmers opposing the Bidadi Township Project have continued for over 560 days, the Greater Bengaluru Development Authority (GBDA) is in the process of finalising tenders for the design and planning of the proposed first AI-powered township in the country.

Ahead of the finalisation of tenders, the Karnataka government has completed the process of issuing final notifications for all nine villages required for the project. The final notifications for the remaining two villages —Bairamangala and Kanchugaranahalli — were issued last week.

A senior GBDA official told The Hindu that tenders had been invited months ago through a Global Expression of Interest (EoI). “We have received bids from global players as well and will soon complete the process. The selected consultants will work with the Project Management Unit (PMU) at all stages of planning,” the official said.

Thus, both land acquisition and the tendering process are now gathering pace. The Bidadi Township Project, discussions on which had slowed over the past two months after Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar constituted a committee to assess its merits and demerits, has now picked up pace.

The latest final notification covers the Bairamangala and Kanchugaranahalli revenue villages in Bidadi. According to the notification document, a total of 1,142.25 acres has been notified in Bairamangala, of which 1,070.42 acres are residual land. In Kanchugaranahalli, 753.11 acres have been notified, of which 731 acres are residual land.

With these notifications, the government has now notified the required 7,357.36 acres of residual land. The project requires a total of 9,640 acres, with the remaining land owned by the government.

Farmers, however, are unhappy with the latest development and have accused the State government of “backstabbing” them.

Prakash H.G., one of the protesting farmers, questioned the government’s decision to proceed with the project despite its promise to assess merits and demerits.

“On July 14, they had only constituted the committee, which also recently invited objections from all of us. Even before the report is out, these notifications have been issued,” he told The Hindu, adding that the government did not know how to keep its promises.

However, GBDA sources told The Hindu that work had not been halted and that compensation was being disbursed to farmers who were giving up their land.

“While a few farmers have been protesting, many other farmers were putting pressure on us to issue the notifications because farmers who were parting with their land were already receiving money. The two remaining villages also have the highest land values,” an official said.

According to documents accessed by The Hindu, farmers in Bairamangala are set to receive nearly ₹2.4 crore per acre.

The official also said that the land acquisition documents had been sent to the government before the committee was constituted, following which the State government proceeded with the final notifications. “It would be unfair to make farmers in these two villages wait. However, we will definitely proceed in accordance with the committee’s recommendations,” the official said.

However, Yashavantha T., general secretary of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS), who is leading the protests, pointed out that the GBDA had given the same reason when it issued final notifications for two villages on the very day Mr. Shivakumar announced the formation of the committee.

“The Chief Minister had said on record that he would not touch the project until the report was submitted. This is a contrasting move now,” he said.