BENGALURU: Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy on Saturday asked the State Government to take over entire road construction project given to Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) citing the Company failed to adhere to the terms of the Framework Agreement and also over observations made by High Court of Karnataka terming NICE project “one of the biggest scams.”
He questioned the State Government’ silence over taking over the NICE project and pointed to the recommendation made by the House Committee headed by senior Congress party MLA T.B. Jayachandra to take over the project. The Committee headed by T.B. Jayachandra alleged irregularities in the project be investigated by Central Bureau of Investigation and the Committee favoured lands acquired for the project to be returned to land losers.
Referring to the Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project taken-up by NICE, Kumaraswamy stated the High Court observed the BMIC “appears to be one of the biggest scams in the State and the High Court felt the need for an independent investigation by a team of experts into allegations of fraud and other offences with forensic audit of the project accounts.
The Union Minister alleged the land acquired for BMIC is for purposes beyond the original scope of the project and stated “When I was the Chief Minister in 2006, I raised the issue on the floor of the Assembly. A decision was taken in the Cabinet meeting to cancel the project. However, I could not implement that decision because I did not receive the necessary support then.”
Kumaraswamy said he would write to the State Government on this issue and wait for its response for a week before deciding on the future course of action.
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