Bengaluru, 11 July

Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Eshwar Khandre on Saturday hit back at Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy over the HMT land issue, asserting that the territory is legally classified as forest land and will continue to remain so as it has not been diverted for non-forest purposes.

Speaking at a press conference at Vikas Soudha, he also said the ownership of the 430 acres of land rests with the State government and not HMT. The government, he said, intends to develop the land into a public park larger than Lalbagh and Cubbon Park to preserve a vital green lung for North Bengaluru. 

Kumaraswamy, the Union Minister for Heavy Industries, has alleged that the land was deforested and allocated to HMT in the 1960s and the Forest Department had no claim to it.

Khandre, who held the forest portfolio in the Siddaramaiah government, said that he had no animosity towards Kumaraswamy, but questioned the JD(S) leader’s credentials. 

Khandre recalled that on 23 May, 2025, Kumaraswamy had announced plans to invest Rs 8,000–10,000 crore to revive the Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant (VISL) at Bhadravati, promising a detailed project report (DPR) within two months and that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi would lay the foundation stone before the end of that year. "Now it is well into 2026. Forget Rs 10,000 crore—even 10 paise has not been released”.

While Kumaraswamy had said the HMT issue was before the court, he had simultaneously declared that the state had no right over the land.

"It is for the judiciary, not Kumaraswamy, to decide the matter," Khandre responded, noting that the Supreme Court had consistently held that land once declared as forest would continue to remain forest unless it was lawfully diverted for non-forest use. The apex court had also held that environmental rights override ownership rights, he added.

Referring to Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) controversy, Khandre alleged that KIOCL increased the height of the Lakya Dam without permission, submerging 340 hectares of reserved forest, despite the recommendations in the Karnataka Legislature's 2008-09 Public Accounts Committee report.