NICE, but how much is that?

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Days after the Supreme Court rapped the state government over the delay in allotting land for NICE project, the state government has taken yet another controversial decision that is certain to boomerang.

Sources working close to the project say that Thursday’s Cabinet decision that fixed a compensation of Rs 40 lakh per acre of land to be acquired for the NICE project can only lead to a new row.

“The state government has fixed Rs 40 lakh per acre which is lower than the market value which is around Rs 65 to 70 lakh per acre.

However, the bone of contention is that this decision is in violation of the Frame Work Agreement (FWA) and a Supreme Court order. As per the FWA the project company should pay the compensation for the land as per the preliminary notification which in this case was issued in 2000 when the land rate was Rs 1 lakh.

“Any delay in acquisition, and it is the project company that has to bear the earlier decided compensation, plus 30 per cent solatium and 12 per of the cost of land per acre per year. When all this is factored, it comes to around Rs 4 lakh per acre,” sources said.

“The interesting bit is that the difference will have to be borne by the government,” sources added.
The big question is, will the state bear the difference amount of Rs 36 lakh per acre for 1,950-odd acres to be acquired for this stretch of the project which runs into thousands of crores? As one source said, it’s almost the cost of NICE project and also of Namma Metro!

Sources said that the controversial decision was taken after two heavyweights proposed it. While one is power minister Shobha Karandlaje, the other is one of the top bureaucrats of the state.

It is widely acknowledged in government circles that Ms Karandlaje proposed it as the more than 1,200 acres of the land to be acquired by NICE falls in the two villages that makes up her assembly constituency.

The top bureaucrat backed the proposal to save his skin.

“The Supreme Court has pulled up the state orally for which this top gun received the wrath of the CM. Not a single empowered committee meeting to take the NICE project was held as promised to the Supreme Court which upset the apex court. With the project going nowhere and fearing more fierce reaction from the apex court, this officer has now offered an impractical solution. This will lead to further conflict and he can take cover under this controversy which is bound to delay the project by which time he wants to shift to Delhi or at least retire,” sources said.