Kheny, CM hammer out solution

Kheny, CM hammer out solution
NICE To Sell Land, Help Govt
The Times of India

Bangalore: A via media on the vexatious BMIC issue appears to have been worked out ahead of chief minister H D Kumaraswamy’s reply on the debate in the assembly, due on Thursday.

Ashok Kheny, managing director of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) — BMIC project promoters, called on Kumaraswamy on June 30 night and explained details of the project. Kheny told The Times of India on Wednesday: “I told him we will stick to the framework agreement and the Supreme Court judgment of April 20. I explained details of the project and showed him the documentation giving all clearances for it.’’

It is learnt that the duo hammered out a formula that could resolve the deadlock between the government and NICE.

Though Kheny declined to comment, sources said the formula is based on the JD(S) idea of setting up an infrastructure development fund after auctioning off excess land.

Sources said NICE has agreed to part with some of the money they make through the sale of land around Bangalore and give it for a government programme to support the weaker sections. “The company has admitted that it has a windfall in terms of profit from the spiralling land prices. It was suggested to them that they share this for the uplift of weaker sections, and the company has agreed,” the sources said.

The imbroglio appears to have been resolved with this, though the state has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court.

BMIC ROW

Stop street fight: Cong

Bangalore: Charging the JD(S)-BJP combine with being afflicted by ‘Kheny-mania’, Congress members in the legislative council on Wednesday asked the government not to indulge in a street fight over the BMIC issue.

Opposition leader H K Patil described the BMIC controversy as “child of JD(S) misadventures” and flayed the government for trying to exploit the issue now for political gains. “Why are you running after NICE? Behave like a strong government. Bring out a white paper on the alleged lapses in execution of the project and initiate a public debate,” Patil said.


Detailing how the Janata Dal government, under the leadership of H D Deve Gowda and J H Patel, went ahead with the project in the mid-1990s despite the Congress crying foul, Patil wondered why the present JD(S)-led government was chanting the NICEmantra now. NICE MD Ashok Kheny is just one of the contractors, he said.
Patil also dared the government to introduce a Bangalore Land Ceiling Act if it was concerned about protecting the rights of the poor in urban centres of the state. “There are individuals and companies that own thousands of acres of land in Bangalore, the government can impose a ceiling on land ownership,” he said.