Bengaluru’s ₹27,000-crore PRR project stuck again as farmers reject BDA’s compensation formula

BDA’s conciliatory meeting with landowners over the long-delayed Bengaluru Business Corridor ended without consensus, as farmers demand market-rate compensation and rehabilitation.

The much-delayed Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) project, part of the ambitious Bengaluru Business Corridor, hit yet another stalemate as Thursday’s conciliatory meeting between the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) and farmers ended without a breakthrough.

The ₹27,000-crore project, first proposed more than 20 years ago to ease Bengaluru’s traffic congestion, envisions a 73.5-km eight-lane corridor connecting Tumakuru Road to Hosur Road via Ballari Road, Hennur-Bagalur Road, and Old Madras Road. But land acquisition, requiring 2,561 acres across 77 villages, remains its biggest hurdle.

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Farmers Reject BDA’s Offer

At the BDA headquarters, Chairman N.A. Haris, along with BBC Chairman Atik (IAS) and BDA Commissioner Manivannan, offered four settlement options to landowners:

1.    Cash Compensation – 3x guidance value in rural areas, 2x in urban areas.
2.    Transferable Development Rights (TDR) – twice the acquired land’s value, tradable or usable elsewhere.
3.    FAR Benefit – enhanced Floor Area Ratio on remaining land to allow greater building potential.
4.    Land-to-Land Compensation – 40% of developed BDA layout land returned to farmers.

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Officials stressed that “market rates” could not be applied as no official records exist, insisting on guidance value-based payouts.
But farmers stood firm, demanding current market-rate compensation under the 2013 Land Acquisition Act, along with rehabilitation, government jobs for displaced families, and welfare guarantees. Many accused the government of ignoring their plight, especially since the project was notified back in 2007 but never implemented.

Farmers voiced their anger at repeated delays, pointing out that even the few settlements made so far have not translated into BDA taking possession of land.

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BDA Chairman N.A. Haris said, “We understand the concerns of the farmers and are eager to complete the project swiftly. We will present their demands directly to the Chief Minister and Deputy CM.”

For now, the deadlock remains. Whether the state bows to farmer demands under the 2013 Act or presses ahead with the 1894 law may well decide the fate of one of Bengaluru’s costliest and most crucial infrastructure projects.

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