K'taka govt not to take over Expressway proj from NICE

Bangalore, June 8: The Karnataka government today denied that it was planning to take over the Bangalore-Mysore Expressway project, being promoted by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) and said such reports were created by the media.

Talking to reporters after taking them on a visit to the site of the Bangalore International airport project, coming up at Devanahalli, about 35 km from here, Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa clarified that the government was not creating any hurdles for NICE in completing the project.

He said ''The state government wants the project to be completed.

But we are taking back the excess land because NICE does not need it as far as the express highway is concerned,'' he explained.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had yesterday announced that the state government would table the Infrastructure Development and Land Reforms Bill in the coming Assembly session to facilitate reclamation of the 2,450 acres of land given in excess to NICE by the erstwhile Krishna government. He, however, said that the Bill would not be in defiance of the Supreme Court verdict.

The state government was at loggerheads with NICE. The company had moved the Supreme Court and the latter had recently directed the government not to come in the way of the project.

UNI