Hardware park impasse broken

Hardware park impasse broken
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: After a long deadlock over compensation for farmers losing land for the proposed hardware park in Devanahalli, the government and the farmers have arrived at a consensus over the rates. On Tuesday, senior officials of the industries and commerce department and the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) met representatives of farmers from three villages — Bagalur, Hoovanayakanahalli and Mahadeva Kodigehalli — and finalized the rates.
The rates decided upon are Rs 70 lakh per acre (Bagalur) and Rs 60 lakh per acre (Hoovanayakanahalli and Mahadeva Kodigehalli). D S Gowda, convener of the Raitha Horata Samithi, said the farmers were “fairly satisfied’’ with the rates. Eighteen representatives of the farmers decided to agree to the rates also considering the general downswing in the realty market, Gowda said.
Tuesday’s decision will be followed upon by referring the rates to the Bangalore Urban district deputy commissioner, following which a resolution is expected to be passed.
Farmers have also raised demands with regard to the land-ascompensation policy. The demand for developed land as compensation — on the lines of the BDA model — has been cleared by the KIADB and is pending before the government. They have also sought exemption from stamp duty on the land and employment in the industries.