'We can complete BMIC phase-I in 2 months'

'We can complete BMIC phase-I in 2 months'
Meera Vankipuram & Mahesh Kulkarni / Bangalore August 13, 2007
The first phase of the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project will be completed in two months if the state transfers the required land, said Ashok Kheny, managing director, Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise Ltd (NICE), implementing the project.

Till now, NICE has received 3,900 acres of the 7,000 acres proposed for the first phase of the expressway, which includes a 41-km peripheral road connecting NH-7 Hosur Road (near Electronic city) to NH-4 Tumkur road (near Peenya Industrial Area). Work on 7 km of the 9.1 km link road is complete.

In phase 1 of the 111 km expressway, work on only 1.2 km of 12 km is ready.

The company now needs land on Magadi Road, Mysore road interchange, Kanakapura interchange, Bannerghatta interchange, link road, Hemmigepura and Hosakerehalli to complete the work on peripheral and link roads.

Claiming that the BMIC project cannot be taken away from NICE based on the Swiss Challenge method and handed over to Global Infrastructure Consortium (GIC) as proposed by Karnataka, Kheny said the Swiss Challenge method is applicable only to new and future projects.

The company is confident of clearing the roadblocks by Monday after the hearing in the Supreme Court on the contempt petition filed by NICE against the government.

According to Kheny, “the state has not made an attempt to expedite the transfer of land to the company for the expressway” and so has not honoured the apex court direction of April 2006.

“We can complete the expressway in about two years if the state transfers the required land to us, instead of giving the project to GIC which will complete the project in nine years,” he told Business Standard.

NICE requires 7,000 acres in phase I, 13,000 acres in phase II and phase III put together to complete the project.

Meanwhile, the GIC has agreed to return the entire 6,999 acres earmarked for the toll road under the framework agreement of the original plan. It has undertaken to return the land not required according to a petition by the state in the Supreme Court seeking dismissal of the petition of NICE.

“A framework agreement is confidential and how did GIC get their hands on it,” questioned Kheny.

According to him, GIC does not seem to exist as there is no such consortium at the address in their application to state for taking over the project. Indus Capital, a partner mentioned by GIC is an investor in the BMIC being implemented by NICE.

The following companies from the US and India make up GIC: Indus Capital, USA; New York Life Insurance Fund, USA; Urban Infrastructure Fund, Mumbai; Avenue Capital, USA; SKIL Infrastructure Ltd (SKILIL), Mumbai, and IREO Fund of the USA.

The consortium has suo motu offered to build the expressway and also throw in a monorail for free. The state has sought the permission of the Supreme Court to go ahead with this proposal. Kheny claimed the addresses of GIC in Mumbai and Bangalore were fake.

He said some of the partners had sent him letters saying they had nothing to do with the consortium. He brought this to the notice of the Supreme Court and to the US commerce department.

Kheny also blamed the state government for creating confusion among the people of the state.

He said if the state tries to apply the Swiss Challenge method to BMIC project, he too could submit a similar proposal to the state to acquire the Bangalore International Airport project at Devanahalli.

He claims, he can save some 1,000 acres and return the Rs 350 crore grant the government committed to the project.

“Over the last 12 years we have not sold a single acre. Every inch acquired has been used for the road,” added he.

The cost of the project in 1997 was Rs 1,750 crore, while in 2006 it was estimated at Rs 2,850 crore and now the cost has risen to Rs 3,250 crore. Any cost escalation will have to be met by the state as per the agreement, Kheny said.