Annapurna Farm Faces Eviction Threat in Auroville Over IIT-M Campus

Puducherry:Auroville’s largest organic farm, Annapurna Farm, is facing an eviction threat after the Auroville Foundation ordered its residents to relocate within 10 days, citing plans linked to an IIT-Madras “sustainability campus”.

The farm management has opposed the move, arguing that Annapurna cannot simply be relocated because its agricultural ecosystem, soil, water systems, livestock, infrastructure and farming operations have been developed over several decades.

A release issued on Sunday says Annapurna Farm covers 135 acres and accounts for about 30 per cent of Auroville’s total food production. It processes more than 90 per cent of grains produced by Auroville farms and serves as the community’s central granary for more than 3,000 residents. The farm has held organic certification since 2005.

The release said the Auroville Foundation had leased 100 acres of the farm’s land to IIT-Madras under a 33-year nominal-rent lease deed signed on December 23, 2025. It alleged that IIT-Madras began fencing about 101 acres of the land in June 2026.

The Annapurna management team said it had examined five alternative sites in the Auroville Greenbelt, ranging from about 3.5 to 11 acres, but none was adequate for the farm. It estimated that at least 50 acres of contiguous land would be required to maintain viable operations.

The farm received an unsigned letter from the Auroville Foundation on September 5 directing residents to relocate within 10 days and begin moving livestock, equipment and essential farming operations. The management questioned how a functioning organic farm, including its granary, cattle, workshops, crops and established agricultural ecosystem, could be moved within such a short period.

The farm employs 17 to 20 regular workers and up to 40 during peak seasons. Its operations include rice cultivation, dairy production, water harvesting and organic farming.

The release also cited a September 10 letter from Parliamentary Standing Committee chairman Mukul Wasnik, recommending that Annapurna Farm should not be disturbed and that alternative sites be identified for the proposed sustainability campus.

The farm management has called for an immediate halt to construction and site-preparation work, an independent review of the project’s impact on food security and ecology, and identification of alternative land for the IIT-Madras campus.