BENGALURU: Raising a 31-year-old dispute, Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy wrote a seven-page letter to Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, demanding that the state government immediately take over the Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project – popularly known as NICE Road – and halt the “unauthorised toll collection” by the project’s private developer.
Kumaraswamy’s letter follows the July 29, 2026, ruling by a division bench of the Karnataka High Court, which criticised Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) and the state government, holding all three complicit in irregularities surrounding the project’s execution.
In his letter, Kumaraswamy has made two central demands: that the government immediately stop toll collection, and enact a legislation to formally take over the entire project. He said it is justified by findings from the High Court, Supreme Court, a legislative house panel and cabinet sub-committee.
Responding to the media on Sunday, Shivakumar struck a cautious note, saying he had not yet read the letter but would examine it and consider “what can be done within the framework of the law”.
The NICE Road traces its origins to 1995, when the Janata Dal government headed by HD Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy’s father, approved a 164-km expressway to link Bengaluru and Mysuru, along with peripheral roads and five satellite townships spread across Bengaluru, Bidadi, Ramanagara and Mandya, with approximately 18,000 acres marked for the venture.
Kumaraswamy’s letterdetails several alleged violations. First, NICE was entitled to 20,193 acres under the framework agreement (6,999 acres for toll road, 13,237 acres for five townships), but the letter alleges NICE has since shifted acreage, moving land earmarked for townships into the toll-road category, while pursuing a contempt petition in the Supreme Court over the discrepancies.
Second, while toll revision followed proper government notification process up to 2011, the High Court found that NICE raised toll rates unilaterally thereafter.
Third, KIADB allegedly handed NICE an additional 554 acres beyond its entitlement, which the government has yet to reclaim despite recommendations from the house committee and cabinet sub-committee.
Fourth, the High Court expressed concern over lakes, tanks and water bodies transferred to NICE, alleging their character had been altered in ways that harmed Bengaluru’s ecology.
Fifth, a proposed 42-acre-32-gunta residential complex at Kommaghatta for land-losers was rejected by the BMIC Planning Authority because the site overlapped with toll-road land, leaving affected families without housing.
Sixth, 23 years after acquisition, landowners still await compensation. The HC has even suggested that, given NICE’s apparent disinterest in completing the project, the government should either overhaul its handling of the corridor or cancel the project outright.
Ashoka backs HDK
Opposition Leader in the Assembly R Ashoka on Sunday backed Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s stand on NICE, alleging that the organisation “looted” people by way of toll collection.
JDS march from Freedom Park
Kolar: Senior JDS leader CMR Srinath the party will take out a march from Freedom Park to Vidhana Soudha on August 18, demanding that the government withdraw the Bidadi Township project.