The land was marked for a township project under the controversial Bengaluru–Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC), then a futuristic expressway and township plan proposed by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) in the mid-90s. But nearly three decades later, the project has stalled – and so have the lives of the people whose land it was supposed to be built on.
Published Jul 18, 2025 | 8:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 30, 2025 | 6:31 PM
On 07 July, the Karnataka High Court quashed the 1998 KIADB land acquisition notification for the BMIC project.
Synopsis: For nearly three decades, hundreds of farmers in Gonipura and neighbouring villages near Bengaluru have lived in legal limbo after their fertile land was earmarked for a stalled township project under the Bengaluru–Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC). Farmers say the prolonged injustice has robbed them of financial stability, personal dignity.
Standing under the shade of a sprawling banyan tree in Gonipura village, just 30 kilometres from the centre of Karnataka’s capital Bengaluru, Nagarajaiah, an elderly farmer points towards his lush green fields.
“The preliminary acquisition notice was issued back in 1997. Since then, nothing has progressed. For over two decades, we’ve been stuck – unable to sell our properties, unable to avail loans, and unable to develop our own land,” he tells South First.
“This prolonged uncertainty has caused immense hardship to us. The government must take urgent action to resolve this by de-notifying the land. It’s time to give us our rights back and end this long-standing injustice.”
Like Nagarajaiah, hundreds of farmers across Gonipura and neighbouring villages of Kengeri Taluk, Bengaluru Urban district have been living in legal limbo since the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) issued a land acquisition notification in 1998.
The land was marked for a township project under the controversial Bengaluru–Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC), then a futuristic expressway and township plan proposed by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) in the mid-90s.
But nearly three decades later, the project has stalled – and so have the lives of the people whose land it was supposed to be built on.
Narayanappa, a farmer from Tippur, is blunt in his assessment.
“For 27 years, they’ve been exploiting farmers. Imagine a man with four daughters – he needs to get them married, build a house. To do that, he needs to sell his land. But no one will buy it, except KIADB. They offer ₹40 lakhs. Out of that, we have to pay bribes to officers and commissions to brokers. In the end, he gets only ₹35 lakhs,” he says.
“With that, what can he do? Can he marry off his daughters? Can he build a house? Can he keep his daughters at home till 35–40 years waiting for that amount? This is how they’ve exploited farmers here. Today, the situation is so bad that farmers are drinking poison and dying. I myself have 2,000 areca trees and 300 coconut trees. What should I do with this plantation? Just let them take it?”
The fertile land here is still under cultivation – ragi, maize, coconut and areca plantations dot the region. But with the land still officially marked for acquisition, farmers are legally prohibited from selling to private buyers or making any changes. The only option is to sell to KIADB – often at prices far below market value.
The market value of the land is up to ₹6 crore per acre, while the state’s own guidance value is around ₹1.10 crore per acre.
Yet farmers say they are being forced to sell their land to KIADB for as little as ₹40 lakhs, while having to spend up to ₹5 lakhs towards brokerage and commissions.
Nanjappa, another farmer from Gonipura, shares his own story.
“In 2019, I had to sell my land because I have five daughters and no other income. I needed the money to get them married. I couldn’t even build a house back then due to financial issues – now I finally have one. But for my land, they gave me only ₹40 lakhs per acre, and after commissions, I got just ₹35 lakhs in hand. This is how NICE exploited me.”
The project that started it all – the BMIC – was signed in 1995 between the Karnataka government and NICE.
The plan was ambitious: a 164-km expressway, peripheral roads, and five new townships in Bengaluru, Bidadi, Ramanagara and Mandya, with around 18,000 acres earmarked for roads and townships. But NICE notified 29,258 acres, far more than what was needed, triggering allegations of profiteering.
Though the expressway was partially built, the full road to Mysuru was never completed. In 2023, the national highway 275 was upgraded to serve as an expressway and later as an “acess-controlled highway”, rendering the original NICE plan largely redundant.
Yet, land earmarked for townships like the one in Gonipura remained caught in a bureaucratic tangle.
“The preliminary notification was in 1997, final notification under Section 28(4) came in 2009, and then they took forever to fix the award,” says JC Uma Shankar, a farmer.
“After issuing the preliminary notification, they haven’t done anything. Instead, they’ve just exploited farmers. To stop this project, we’ve protested many times. We even marched to Bengaluru on foot. But by not taking any action, they’ve kept farmers in a state of constant confusion and uncertainty.”
The project was originally supported in 1995 by HD Deve Gowda, then Karnataka Chief Minister, who signed the Framework Agreement with NICE.
But in the years that followed, he became one of its fiercest critics. By 2010, Deve Gowda was leading protests alongside farmers in Delhi, calling the project a “land scam” and accusing NICE of misusing government backing to grab land far beyond what was needed.
He repeatedly demanded investigations and alternative routes like the Peripheral Ring Road – first proposed by the BJP-JD(S) alliance government under his son, former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy – even urging the state to scrap the township plans entirely.
Meanwhile many farmers joined protests in 2012 in Bengaluru, backed by veteran Congress leaders RV Deshpande and VS Ugrappa.
They accused the government of acquiring land outside the original project alignment and acting at the behest of NICE.
Deshpande, then the KPCC president, had accused the BJP government of “acting as an agent of the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE)”, and without looking into the original alignment, had issued orders for land acquisition.
Ugrappa similarly had highlighted the gap in compensation, where NICE was offering just ₹85,000 per acre against the market rate of more than ₹2 crore.
Thirteen years later, the land value has only grown, and the resentment hasn’t faded.
“I feel like the government left a monster like NICE to destroy the lives of farmers,” says Mahadevaiah GS from Gonipura.
“They started the NICE corridor project and made DK Shivakumar its president. To grab farmers’ land, they systematically carried out their plan. We even met the then DC, Iqbal, but he didn’t help us in any way. We tried everything to get the government’s attention. But despite all three major parties coming to power and six different chief ministers taking office, nothing changed. No one helped us.”
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has championed the revival of BMIC project to promote outward development and generate employment in towns such as Bidadi, Ramanagara, and Mandya.
He has argued that the NICE Road would support the growth of townships, unlike the access-controlled NH-275, which restricts local access to amenities.
In October 2024, the Karnataka government announced plans to develop the Bidadi township through a joint venture model with farmers, involving 12,000 acres of unused land.
The initiative aims to strike a balance between infrastructure development and financial limitations, while also addressing farmer concerns by offering them developed land in exchange for their participation.
On Monday, 07 July, the Karnataka High Court quashed the 1998 KIADB land acquisition notification for the BMIC project, saying the process had dragged on too long. The judgement has brought some relief and renewed hope for farmers – but the path ahead is not straightforward.
“First, de-notification is out of the picture. For the simple reason that it has gone up till Supreme Court and approval is granted by the court itself. At this stage, when the final notification is already issued, there is no question of de-notification,” ML Suvarna, a High Court advocate tells South First.
“Second, Supreme Court and High Court judgments say compensation should be given as per the value of today, whatever the guidance is. So that being the case, when there is a delay from the state government to have dispersed the particular amount, it amounts to unjust enrichment from the state government. So this being the factor, the delay will be attributed to the state government and value as on today should be paid.”
For those who already accepted compensation, legal remedy is still possible – but challenging. “They can also approach the court. But there’s a condition – you have to satisfactorily explain to the court what you were doing for so long. Because the principle of estoppel will play against you.”
According to the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, if compensation hasn’t been paid or possession hasn’t been taken within five years of the award, the entire process is deemed to have lapsed.
“NICE has faced backlash in court. As per the Land Acquisition Act, if nothing is done within five years of notification, the process should be cancelled. But they’ve taken 28 years, turning our lives into a nightmare. KIADB is nothing but a broker – they don’t do anything except issue notifications and sell land to buyers. They’ve failed the farmers,” says GS Putrajaiah.
The fight isn’t over. Farmers say they are prepared to take the legal battle further and demand proper compensation. But for many, the damage is already done – decades of uncertainty, mental distress, and financial stagnation have taken their toll.
Ashwat Narayana, an ex-soldier from the area, puts it simply: “There, it’s ‘Jai Jawan’, and here, it’s ‘Jai Kisan’. If a farmer thrives here, only then can a soldier protect us there.”
Suresh KR, former Taluk Panchayat member from K Gollahalli, adds, “A farmer can’t even live or die – that’s how our situation is now.”
Narayanappa from K Gollahalli says, “When this project started, my children were in primary school. Today, my children’s children are in primary school.”
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
