HDK claims lack of Assembly support prevented him from scrapping NICE project in 2006-07

Continuing his attack on the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) project, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy on Sunday said he was unable to scrap the project in 2006-07 when he was the Chief Minister as he did not have sufficient support in the Legislative Assembly.

Speaking to reporters after offering prayers at the Sri Cheluvanarayana Swamy Temple in Melukote on Sunday, Mr. Kumaraswamy said he had raised the issue in the Legislative Assembly as the then Chief Minister, but did not elicit a favourable response for scrapping the project.

He said he was unable to cancel the project as he had the support of only 38 MLAs. Mr. Kumaraswamy was heading a coalition government with the support of the BJP during that period.

He further recalled that when he attempted to raise the issue before the Cabinet, those who shared power with him boycotted the Cabinet meeting.

If he had the support of 134 MLAs as the present Congress government does, Mr. Kumaraswamy said the people responsible for violating the law in the NICE project would have been in jail.

Accusing the government of being complicit with the company in the NICE project, Mr. Kumaraswamy said it was not just the present government, but also the previous governments and their officials.

Describing NICE as one of the “biggest scams” in Karnataka, Mr. Kumaraswamy said the Framework Agreement had been violated repeatedly. “A red carpet was rolled out for the company’s promoter, while farmers’ land was exploited. Even after 20 years, farmers have still not received their compensation,” he alleged.

He said valuable land taken from farmers in the name of the NICE project had subsequently been used for real estate development. “Land acquired from farmers for the project has been commercially exploited. Joint development agreements were entered into with major companies. After examining all these aspects, the court observed that the toll collection is illegal. Yet this government has still failed to take any action,” Mr. Kumaraswamy said.

The Union Minister even criticised Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi’s reported claim that the agreement still had another 10 years left. “The government is joining hands with the company and allowing it to continue its exploitation while farmers are forced to stand outside courts year after year,” he alleged.

On his appeal regarding toll payments on the NICE Road, Mr. Kumaraswamy rejected the allegation that he was provoking the public.

He alleged that the NICE promoter had invested virtually nothing in the project while leveraging the land provided by the State.

While the State government provided land for the project on a nominal lease value, the promoter mortgaged the assets with the bank and raised loans. “Those running the government have watched all this happen and have sat by while public assets were effectively being exploited,” he said.

Responding to queries relating to the advertisements in a section of the media on the NICE project, the Union Minister said the advertisement reproduces the observations recently made by a Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka on the NICE project.