NICE brushes aside govt's move to take over BMIC proj

Bangalore, June 16: Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) Managing Director Ashok Kheny today brushed aside the Karnataka Government's proposed move to take over the ongoing Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project from the company, saying that every citizen had the right to excercise his rights and it was guaranteed in the Constitution.

Speaking to newspersons at Hemmigepura after attending the launch of a section of the first phase of the Rs 2,250 crore project, he opined that Indian democracy was the most superior when compared to others in the world. ''Such issues cannot be left to the whims and fancies of an individual,'' he said in an oblique reference to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's move to bring in a legislation to take over the project.

''If you are afraid of the God, then you will not do anything,'' he added.

Hoping that there would not be any more impediments in the implementation of the project, he said he was ready to cooperate with the government and resolve the tangle. ''We have requested already and we will be too happy to meet him (Mr Kumaraswamy) as such discussions will always lead to transparency,'' he remarked.

Asked about the charge levelled against him that he had engaged in real estate business through the project, Mr Kheny said this issue was also eloquently mentioned in the Supreme Court verdict.

Terming the charge as ''unfair,'' he said while numerous developers from elsewhere were busy selling thousands of acres of land in and around the city, being a Kannadiga, he had never sold an inch of the land meant for the project. ''It was like a Goebbellian theory,'' he added.

When his attention was drawn to the allegation that NICE had acquired excess land for the project, Mr Kheny said the Supreme Court verdict had dealt with this issue too and observed that there was nothing as such. Asked whether he was ready for a legal battle with the government on this issue, he said ''I am sitting here for protecting my rights for the last 11 years.'' The issue of this ''magic'' excess land figured only after December 2003, he pointed out.

Asked whether he considered the inaugural a victory to him, he said it was not a question of achieving victory. ''We look at the progress of the state and the people. When people misuse the farmers, they get angry. But if you win their hearts through this kind of measure, then they will be happy and actively participate.

Most of them who attended the function today came from neighbouring villages voluntarily,'' he pointed out.

He said the company had so far invested around Rs 800 crore out of Rs 2,250 crore needed for the land acquisition and road component. Of the total requirement of 20,193 acres for the project, it had acquired 6,700 acres.

The total investment into the project covering three phases, including setting up of five townships, was around Rs 18,000 crore, he added.

UNI