Farmers to protest in Morbi on July 14 against Adani power project

5 min readAhmedabadUpdated: Jul 13, 2026 02:15 PM IST

The farmers will submit a representation to the Morbi Collector, raising their objections to the Government Resolution (GR) issued on July 4. (file)

Farmers in Morbi have announced a padyatra on July 14 as part of their ongoing protest at Jetpar village against installation of 756 kV D/c line by Halvad Transmission Limited, a special purpose vehicle of Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL) – the country’s largest private-sector power transmission and distribution company — from Khavda in Kutch to Halvad in Morbi across a length of 246 km.

People from across Gujarat will participate in the 3.5 km foot march, to be flagged off at 9 am from Mahendranagar Chokdi and concluded at the Collector office in Morbi at noon.

“We will hold the padyatra against the state government’s latest resolution which is anti-farmers and a strategy to divide the farmers,” Vaibhav Amrutiya, one of the protesting Jetpar farmers, told The Indian Express.

The farmers will submit a representation to the Morbi Collector, raising their objections to the Government Resolution (GR) issued on July 4.

As reported by The Indian Express on July 7, the farmers are unhappy with the state government resolution. Though the farmers called off their fast, they announced the stage-3 of the protest, what they called ‘satyagrah’.

Following the GR issued on July 4 that has ‘superseded’ the provisions of all the resolutions issued earlier by the state government regarding compensation for damage caused to land and crops during the laying of transmission lines and transmission towers, the farmers said that they would continue their protest demanding clarity on these guidelines.

While the first phase was a symbolic fast that started on June 7, the farmers started the stage 2 of the protest on June 17 with the indefinite hunger strike. The ‘part 3’ of the protest, ‘satyagrah’, will be launched in a “planned manner”, they said.

“We are against the lottery system which the state government has introduced to decide the market price of the land. A farmer can never be benefitted from a lottery system. Also, when the compensation for the tower has been revised, why not the ‘Right of Way’ for the cables which remains 30, 45 and 60 per cent. In this case, a farmer, whose land is used for laying cables, will be at a major loss,” Vaibhav Amrutiya had told this paper.

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Already, discussions with farmers from village till taluka, district and state level have been started to formalise the demands. Farmers and sarpanches from 12 districts including Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Vadodara met at Jetpar village on July 9 to decide the future course of action.

Farmers’ committees will be formed at the district, taluka and gram panchayat levels and after that, the demands will be decided, they said.

The farmers warned that if they are not given adequate compensation for the electricity poles and cables being installed on their land, they will not hesitate to vote against the BJP in the coming elections.

What GR says

The Government Resolution issued by the Energy and Petroleum Department on July 4 states that the final market price will be determined by the Market Rate Committee (MRC) based on the ‘reference market rate’ as well as a ‘lottery system’. Under the process, evaluators have to submit reports in a sealed cover directly to the District Collector within 21 days of their appointment by the committee. After receiving all three reports – one by the landowners’ representative, one by the TSP (Transmission service provider) and one by the District Collector – two reports will be opened by the District Collector after selecting them through a ‘lottery system’.

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For the valuation of the land, the committee will appoint land valuers who are empanelled by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) — ‘desirable’ that these valuers should be primarily state valuers. Three valuers will be appointed on the day of the committee meeting itself.

As per the new guidelines, the ‘method’ laid down for determining the ‘Reference Market Rate’ states that if the difference in the market rates determined by the two selected valuers is less than 20 per cent of the lower value, the average value of both the valuations will be considered as the reference market rate.

In the second case, if the difference between the two is more than 20 per cent, the reference market rate can be fixed at 10 per cent more than the lower valuation. “Only if this is not acceptable, the sealed report of the third valuer shall be opened and the reference market rate shall be finalised by taking the average of the two lowest valuations,” the guidelines state.

Ritu Sharma is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express' Gujarat bureau, an editorial position that reflects her experience and Authority in regional journalism. With over a decade of concentrated reporting experience, she is a highly Trustworthy and specialized journalist, especially noted for her Expertise in the education sector across Gujarat and previously Chandigarh.

Expertise

Primary Authority (Education): With over ten years of dedicated reporting on education in both Gujarat and Chandigarh, Ritu Sharma is a foremost authority on educational policy, institutional governance, and ground realities from "KG to PG." Her coverage includes:

Higher Education: In-depth scrutiny of top institutions like IIM-Ahmedabad (controversies over demolition/restoration of heritage architecture), IIT-Bombay (caste discrimination issues), and new initiatives like international branch campuses in GIFT City.

Schooling & Policy: Detailed coverage of government schemes (Gyan Sadhana School Voucher Scheme), the implementation and impact of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, teacher recruitment issues, and the impact of national policies like the NEP.

Student Welfare: Reporting on critical issues such as suicide allegations due to caste discrimination, and the challenges faced by students (e.g., non-delivery of NAMO tablets). ... Read More

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