Government to sign BMIC project agreement afresh

In a major policy decision, the Karnataka government on Thursday decided to sign afresh the framework agreement with the NICE (Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise) on the controversial Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project and redeem 2,252 acres of excess land acquired for the project.

The 2,252 acres of excess land allotted to the multi-crore project, which included 774 acres of government-owned land, will be restored to farmers, minister for information B Shivaram told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

In a major policy decision, the government resolved to demand that NICE sign a new framework agreement to include that all arbitration shall be settled in a court in India, instead of the original agreement to settle disputes in a court in London, Shivaram said.

He said that the decision adopted on the BMIC project were in accordance with the interim report submitted by an expert committee headed by former PWD secretary K C Reddy.

The cabinet which accepted the interim report "in toto" also decided to put on hold the township project proposed by NICE near Bidadi on the outskirts of the city, for which 2,387.32 acres of land had been allotted.

Shivaram sought to clarify that the government had no intention to shelve the project and wanted the work to begin as soon as possible.

With the decision, the government has appeased its coalition partner JD(S), whose supremo H D Deve Gowda had sought a thorough review of the Rs 2,200 crore project. Shivaram said that a final decision on the project will be taken after the Reddy Committee submits its report, which is expected in about a month's time.

The cabinet also imposed a rider on the NICE company not to use the land allotted to it for any other purpose.

The Revenue Department and Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) would undertake a survey to identify the excess land notified already, he said, adding that while the government will retain its land, the farmers' land will be returned.

Shivaram hinted that the size of the township proposed enroute the Bangalore-Mysore expressway would be reduced, but did not elaborate.

The interim report of the expert committee had suggested that the land requirement for pheripheral roads, link roads and inter-change roads was only 1,240 acres.

Meanwhile, highly placed sources said that at least 6,500 acres of excess land had been acquired for the project by the previous government.

Even the land that did not come under the purview of the project have been acquired, the sources, refusing to be quoted, alleged.

NICE reacting to this, stated that the Reddy Committee is not legally valid and hence the law will take its due course as per the earlier agreement.