Recently, for an upcoming 9,684-acre, Rs 50,000 crore township project in Bidadi, also in Bangalore rural district, but in Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s constituency, the Government fixed a “unique” compensation package of Rs 20 lakh to Rs 25 lakh per acre of agricultural land or 8,000 sq feet of developed land in return for every acre acquired.

In the Nandagudi case the Chief Minister has stated that the promoters will have to convince the farmers and buy the land.

Nandagudi was originally identified as the site for a township project on the lines of the project in the Chief Minister’s constituency, but the plans were changed recently.

Under government order No. 97 of the Urban Development Department, issued following a September 2006 meeting presided over by Kumaraswamy, Nandagudi was to be one of five townships created around Bangalore “to preserve and improve the quality of life for the citizens within the Bangalore Metropolitan Area (BMA) and to cater to the needs of a rapidly increasing population”.

The land originally identified for the township project at Nandagudi Hobli in Hosakote Taluk was 18,507 acres, including 13,762 acres of private land and 4,745 acres of government land.

Nandagudi was selected on the basis of several factors, according to the government, including least displacement of human habitation, least disturbance to forests and water bodies, least acquisition of valuable agricultural lands, low cost of land, reasonable distance from existing developed locations and good connectivity.