Bengaluru, 11 Sept

The Karnataka government announced several changes for Phase-3 of the Krishna Upper Bank project, including increasing the budget for the project and acquiring the land in one stage, instead of two.

The decision was announced by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah after a meeting in Vidhana Soudha on Wednesday.

“Initially, the project cost for the implementation of the project was estimated at Rs. 51,148 crore,” he said on X.  “Now, it has been estimated at a revised Rs. 87,818 crore. An appropriate decision will be taken in the Cabinet” meeting, which is reportedly scheduled on Friday.

Nearly half the amount is set to be allocated for the land acquisition.

“(It) was initially estimated at Rs. 17,627 crore,” he said. “Currently, the revised amount is estimated to be Rs. 40,557.09 crore.

Siddaramaiah claimed the government was committed to compensating farmers who lose their land.

He added that the government would acquire the land in one stage, instead of the previously planned two stages.

“A total of 1,33,867 acres of land acquisition is required for the project implementation, including 75,563 acres of land that will be submerged in the reservoir,” Siddaramaiah said. “So far, land acquisition awards have been issued for 29,566 acres. 59,354 acres of land have been subjected to the land acquisition process.”