Government to take over BMIC project

Even as the first stretch of the controversy-ridden Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) highway is ready to be thrown open to traffic in about a week’s time, the Karnataka Government was preparing to take over the Rs 220 billion infrastructure project from the private entity, which is implementing the project, by bringing in a piece of legislation.

The Supreme Court had recently cleared the BMIC project, which has been mired in controversies for more than ten years since it was conceived in 1995. Just when the private promoter had resumed work and declared the opening of the first stretch of the peripheral road around Bangalore on June 16, the Karnataka Government, which had been stone-walling the project on various grounds, moved swiftly to conceive a bill envisaging the nationalization of the project.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy told reporters in Bangalore on Wednesday that the Government would take over the BMIC project by enacting a Bill without dishonouring the Apex Court’s ruling in the dispute.

He had convened an emergency meeting of the State Cabinet on Tuesday night and secured the approval of coalition partner BJP to his proposal to take over the project by bringing in a bill.

Kumaraswamy contended that the Government was the appropriate agency to implement infrastructure projects in a way that benefits common mon. “But, we will take care that the court’s rulings are not dishonoured in any way”, he said.

The proposed Karnataka Infrastructure Development and Land Reforms Bill 2006 seeks to nationalize all infrastructure projects that require more than 5,000 acres of land. “Only BMIC falls into the ambit of the project”, an official said.

The Karnataka Government’s latest move is expected to place yet another hurdle in the implementation of the long-pending BMIC project, which envisages construction of a 111-km long state-of-the-art expressway between Bangalore and Mysore, besides five townships that can accommodate a population of 100,000 each.

The root cause of the dispute between the Government and the private promoter is the amount of land required for the project. While the Government in 1995 had signed a framework agreement to provide 20,153 acres of land for the project, the Government later contended the private company had acquired 2,541 acres of land in excess.