Severe shortage of land in Bengaluru forces Government to do a U-turn

Bengaluru/Mysuru: The B.S. Yediyurappa Government that was a strong proponent of setting up a Film City in Bengaluru has made a U-turn and has stated that the ambitious project will be back to its originally-proposed location at Himmavu in Nanjangud Taluk of Mysuru. 

With this announcement in the Assembly yesterday, the Film City project that Mysuru missed out is back to its original location, thanks to non-availability of land in Bengaluru. In fact, the story of Film City is not less than a cinema plot as it began in Mysuru in 2017 during the reign of Siddharamaiah and when Kumaraswamy took over as the CM in 2018, the location was shifted to Ramanagara and to Bengaluru in 2019 during the present Government headed by Yediyurappa.

Yediyurappa had announced that the Film City would come up at the Devika Rani Roerich Estate at Tataguni and after severe backlash from environmentalists, the CM had declared that the project would be moved to Hesaraghatta. Now, in a twist in the plot, the Film City is back in Mysuru. The announcement was made by Information and Public Relations Minister

C.C. Patil in the Legislative Council while replying to a query by Mysuru MLC Sandesh Nagaraj. 

Land shortage

“The Film City requires an area of at least 50-70 acres. Government agencies scouted for the land parcel needed to set up the Film City but it is not available in Bengaluru. We have decided to revert to its plan to set up Film City at Himmavu village near Mysuru,” Patil announced. 

He further said that 100 acres of land is already available at Himmavu village and the project will be taken forward after discussion with Revenue Minister R. Ashok regarding the transfer of the land to Information and Publicity Department. The project will come up at a cost of Rs. 500 crore on a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) model, the Minister said and added that the documents would be sent to the CM’s Office for approval. 

Dist. Minister welcomes

Meanwhile, Mysuru District Minister S.T. Somashekar has thanked the Government for its decision and said that Mysuru is known for its culture and has immense heritage value and also, the city has been recognised as one of the cleanest cities. “Over 50 lakh tourists visit Mysuru annually and it is ideal to have the project in Mysuru,” he said.

“There are more than 256 spots in and around Mysuru and Kannada film producers, hotel industries and tourism stakeholders have been demanding a Film City in Mysuru for a long time. It will help in attracting more tourists to surrounding regions and will generate employment,” Somashekar noted. 

Somashekar said that he had met the CM on Mar. 3 and submitted a memorandum for establishing the project in Mysuru considering its importance as a tourist city and also being one of the popular destinations for film shootings since many decades.

According to a report prepared by global consultancy Ernst & Young that was handed over to the Tourism Department in 2019, a Film City on a 110-acre land at Himmavu can produce 23 films every year. 

Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Chairman H.V. Rajeev too said that the Film City project will boost the overall development of Mysuru and Nanjangud regions. “Mysuru is a growing city and every year, lakhs of tourists visit here and the establishment of Film City would generate lots of employment besides being another tourist destination,” he said.