IDPL project: farmers reject revised compensation from BPCL
Farmers in Coimbatore and Tiruppur have rejected a revised compensation offer from Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) for land acquisition related to a pipeline project. They argue that the project causes long-term distress and devaluation of agricultural land, suggesting alternative routes along national highways instead.
Why it matters
This highlights the ongoing tension between industrial infrastructure development and the protection of agricultural livelihoods in India.
Farmers of Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts on Saturday (July 18) declined to accept the 100% compensation offer for their agricultural land proposed to be utilised for laying an additional petroleum pipeline for the Irugur–Devanagonthi Pipeline (IDPL) project of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).
Farmers were unanimous in opposing the BPCL project at a meeting chaired by District Collector Manish Narnaware in Tiruppur.
The District Collector urged the farmers to accept guideline value compensation for the agricultural land to be utilised under the Right-of-Use provision. The extent of compensation has been raised to ₹50 crore from the ₹8 crore proposed earlier for land owners in Tiruppur district, and to ₹17 crore from ₹3 crore for those in Coimbatore district, the farmers were told.
At the time of initiation in 2023, the BPCL had proposed to pay only 20% of the guideline value to lay underground pipeline for the project.
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