Government left with little leeway on BMIC project

Government left with little leeway on BMIC project

The Hindu

Only option is to revive plan for legislation to acquire `excess land'

`The trick now lies in mounting a challenge without inviting contempt'

Bangalore: The only option for the State Government in view of the adverse Supreme Court ruling on the controversial Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project is to once again resurrect the plan to enact legislation to acquire the "excess land" that is the bone of contention between the Government and the project promoter, Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) Ltd.

The State Government had briefly toyed with this idea after the Supreme Court, on April 20 this year, ordered the implementation and completion of the project "expeditiously."

The Supreme Court had also quashed the findings of the K.C. Reddy Committee, which said that 2,450 acres of land was in excess of the project requirement.

But, the legislation plan was dumped in favour of a review petition, which was rejected by the apex court on Thursday. "The ball has moved out of the court at the moment. It is entirely up to the Government what it intends to do next. The trick now lies in mounting a challenge without inviting contempt," says a legal luminary associated with the case.

The State Government has its task cut out in framing legislation to deal with the issue.

Framework Agreement

As per the original Framework Agreement (FWA) signed between the then J.H. Patel government and NICE on April 3, 1997, the Government has to make available 20,193 acres. Of this, 6,956 acres is government land and the remaining 13,237 acres is private land to be acquired by the Government and transferred to NICE.

The Government has so far transferred about 7,000 acres of land while the transfer of another 13,000-odd acres is pending.

According to the Government, the dispute covers 743 acres of excess government land and 1,706.35 acres of excess private land, making it 2,450 acres of prime land in and around Bangalore, which at current rates is estimated at Rs. 30,000 crore.

The Government says that land is being acquired "far in excess of what is required for the project." It claims that NICE "got excess land acquired in and around Bangalore in the name of interchanges, which it is going to use for commercial purposes."

As per the draft legislation, the State intends to auction the excess land and the funds so raised will be used for various developmental purposes.

NICE officials have, however, said that the Government has to accept the verdict and start transferring the land for implementing the project expeditiously.