Beyond the excitement of a rural town transforming into a tech hub, are thousands of farmers who have given up land for this factory in the promise of compensation and jobs.
Published Aug 28, 2025 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 28, 2025 | 9:00 AM
Farmers’ protest in Doddaballapur in 2024,. (Photo credit: All India Kisan Sabha)
Synopsis: Foxconn’s “Project Elephant” is built on a 13-million-square-foot site, roughly the size of 220 football fields. What was marketed as Foxconn’s second-largest factory outside China that would create 40,000 jobs, has come as a nightmare for farmers in the area who have been fighting back-to-back land acquisition battles.
Once a quiet farming town known for its pomelos, grapes, silk, dairy, and a variety of other crops, Devanahalli today tells a very different story.
Towering high-rises, sprawling commercial complexes, and the latest entrant, Foxconn’s $2.8 billion manufacturing facility which began commercial production of iPhones in August, have taken over the skyline.
Beyond the excitement of a rural town transforming into a tech hub, are thousands of farmers who have given up land for this factory in the promise of compensation and jobs.
Foxconn’s “Project Elephant” is built on a 13-million-square-foot site, roughly the size of 220 football fields. What was marketed as Foxconn’s second-largest factory outside China that would create 40,000 jobs, has come as a nightmare for farmers in the area who have been fighting back-to-back land acquisition battles.
Srinu, one such farmer, whose land was acquired for the factory in 2022, stares at a bleak future. “We were promised compensation by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) and Foxconn. We were also promised a job in the factory. But we haven’t gotten either of these things,” he told South First.
Srinu is not alone. As many as 1,300 such farmer families across 13 villages have been affected, according to farmer activists.
In July 2025, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka was compelled to withdraw the final notification issued by the KIADB to acquire 1,777 acres of fertile land for the second phase of its aerospace park in Devanahalli.
It came as a huge win for farmers, who were protesting against the land acquisition for 1,198 days – one of the longest such battles in the recent past in the country.
Farmers’ protest. (Photo credit: All India Kisan Sabha)
“It was definitely a win but it isn’t always easy for us (farmers) to keep fighting against the government. Some of us still have cases registered against us for organising protests against these industrial projects,” said Manjunath, another farmer in Devanahalli.
Manjunath has been making multiple trips to the court to fight against acquisition of his farm land, which first began in 2009. “At that time we were told it was just for an industrial area. We got the final notification saying that the acquisition was for Foxconn in 2022. I have spent over a decade trying to save my farm,” he said.
Manjunath has been a farmer for 30 years, growing crops including ragi and sweetcorn. “Now, I don’t even have half the land I used to. My earnings have dropped, and I don’t know any other profession. They sold this dream of development but we were never part of it,” he said.
At the time of land acquisition, farmers and other locals in the area were promised jobs in the factory. The company’s CEO and chairman Young Liu publicly said in 2024, “The unit in Karnataka will soon become the second-largest Foxconn plant after China’s unit. It will create 40,000 direct jobs, especially for middle-level educated individuals.”
However, this promise hasn’t materialised on the ground. Manjunath recalled how he had passed around the notice from KIADB that communicated the company’s commitment to jobs, among farmers in his area. “Some of us who are educated even drafted up resumes in the hope that we would get a job. But I don’t know any farmer who has gotten one,” Manjunath said.
The debate on unfulfilled promises also made its way to the Karnataka Assembly early this year in March. Doddaballapur BJP lawmaker Dheeraj Munira claimed that 25,000 people are working at the Foxconn facility but most of them are hired from outside the state.
“How many of them are from my taluk? How many of them are land-losing farmers?” he said, adding that not even 500 people from Doddaballapur have been given jobs.
He further asked the government to make it mandatory for industries coming up on KIADB land to recruit students from local state-run colleges.
Ramesh Cheemachanahalli, a local farmer leader, told South First that farmers do not have the required training or education for well-paying jobs at Foxconn.
“Some of those employed have been placed in roles like security guards and janitors,” said Cheemachanahalli. “Even in these cases, the government hasn’t provided proper training for the responsibilities involved or for working night shifts, which are often required. Before acquiring land, the government should have fully evaluated whether its promises were actually feasible.”
One woman from a farming family was assigned a late-night janitorial shift at the factory, after her family lost their land in the acquisition process, “She had never worked late nights. But the family needed money so she took the job. She developed health issues and had to quit eventually,” recalled Chidananda Murthy, an activist in Doddaballapura.
Concerns over Foxconn’s hiring practices are not new. In Tamil Nadu, the company previously faced scrutiny following reports that it allegedly excluded married women from the recruitment process.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had issued notices to the Labour Ministry and the Tamil Nadu government in response to these reports, emphasizing that it is the responsibility of state authorities to ensure all companies comply with labour laws. The NHRC highlighted that the right to health and dignity must be upheld for all individuals—including women—working within the supply chains of private sector production units.
Over the years, as farmers fought for their land in the Karnataka High Court, the court directed the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) to provide adequate compensation to those affected. However, farmers in Devanahalli told South First that many have yet to receive any payment, and those who have say the compensation is far from adequate.
“The rate fixed is only 25 percent of what the market rate is as of today. This will not be enough for farmers who are losing their sole source of income,” said Cheemachanahalli.
Responding to one such petition accessed by South First, the high court in 2024 noted, “Courts should not permit upsetting the entire apple-cart of acquisition at the behest of few land owners and on the other hand, their grievance can be redressed by granting adequate compensation.”
Other farmers in the area also described how the cost of living has increased significantly since industries began moving in. A walk through the streets of Devanahalli now reveals clear signs of this transformation—large billboards line the roads, advertising new residential layouts and real estate projects.
“Rents have gone up in the buildings we live in, as they try to keep up with the new real estate developments in the area,” said Srinu. “We can’t afford these rising expenses without receiving alternative land or proper compensation from the court.”
Beyond these concerns, activists and farmers also worry about the environmental impact of the industrial project, especially as the area continues to attract increasing interest from industries.
According to a 2024 report by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), groundwater samples collected from rural Bengaluru were found to have nitrate levels above the permissible limits, especially in Doddaballapura, Devanahalli, and Nelamangala taluks.
“Setting up industries in such a rich agricultural belt will only cause doom for farmers. They will release industrial waste into the lakes, which will also seep into the groundwater, adding to the existing woes of farmers who already have very limited land,” Murthy told South First.
(Edited by Sumavarsha)
