Farmers oppose acquisition of land for HAL expansion at Gubbi in Tumakuru district

After the Bidadi township project in Bengaluru South district triggered protests by farmers, an agitation has emerged in Gubbi taluk of Tumakuru district against the proposed acquisition of land for the expansion of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s (HAL) helicopter manufacturing facility.

About a decade ago, the State government acquired over 600 acres at Bidarehalla Kaval in Gubbi taluk for HAL’s helicopter manufacturing complex, which houses production, testing, and other manufacturing facilities. The facility was inaugurated in 2023.

Direction to KIADB

HAL has now sought an additional 400 acres for expanding the unit. The State government has directed the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) to identify suitable land for the project.

Following a survey, KIADB identified around 457 acres adjoining the existing HAL facility and submitted its proposal to the government. The identified land includes about 146 acres of agricultural land belonging to local farmers.

Opposing the proposal, farmers have appealed to the government and local MLAs, S.R. Srinivas and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president Muralidhar Halappa, to protect their agricultural land. They have urged the authorities to acquire social forestry or gomal (grazing) land available in the village instead of farmland.

Amid the growing opposition, KIADB officials held a meeting with farmers and their representatives. Mr. Halappa, who represented the farmers, said those who had lost land during the first phase of the HAL project had not received the benefits promised by the company.

Farmers are also worried that HAL’s long-term plans to continuously expand the facility by adding infrastructure such as a hospital and other amenities for its employees could lead to further acquisition of agricultural land.

‘No jobs as promised’

 “The farmers of Bidarehalla Kaval have already sacrificed their land for the first phase of the HAL project. Children of affected families have not been provided permanent employment as promised. Limited employment has been given and they are few contract-based Group D jobs. Naturally, farmers are reluctant to part with more of their land for the expansion,” Mr. Halappa told The Hindu.

He argued that nearly 2,000 acres of social forestry land in the area would be more suitable for the expansion. “Our demand is that farmers should not be displaced again. The local MLAs have also taken up the matter with the Chief Minister and requested that agricultural land be excluded from acquisition,” he said.

A delegation of farmers led by Mr. Halappa and Tumkur Cooperative Milk Producers Societies Union Limited (TUMUL) director Bharathi Srinivas submitted a memorandum to KIADB officials, urging them to acquire available social forestry and gomal land for the HAL expansion instead of agricultural land.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the HAL helicopter manufacturing facility in 2016.