Kumaraswamy urges DK to takeover of NICE toll roads, halt to toll collection

Bengaluru: Union Steel and Heavy Industries Minister HD Kumaraswamy urged Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to take over the NICE project and immediately halt what he described as unauthorised toll collection on the NICE roads in Bengaluru.

NICE operates a 41-km peripheral and 10-km link road in Bengaluru and collects a toll from users, which Kumaraswamy wants scrapped.

In a seven-page letter to Shivakumar, the union minister cited alleged violations of agreements by project promoters and called for corrective action, including a review of the entire project and an investigation into its implementation.


He urged the state government to act on observations of the Karnataka High Court and Supreme Court, as well as recommendations of legislative and Cabinet committees that have examined the project.

Haveri-Gadag MP and former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai also sought Shivakumar’s intervention against what he termed excessive toll collection and demanded a comprehensive review of the project.

Kumaraswamy referred to the Karnataka High Court’s July 29, 2026, judgment, which made strong observations on the functioning of NICE, the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) and the state government in implementing the Bangalore-Mysore infrastcture corridor project (BMICP).

The court, while dismissing appeals by NICE and KIADB, upheld a single judge’s July 4, 2025 judgment. The division bench said material before it indicated that land acquired for a public infrastructure project had been commercially exploited in violation of the framework agreement, while several landowners remained without compensation for years.

The court also called for an independent assessment and forensic audit of the project, alleging that land had been diverted, assets capitalised and tolls collected in violation of contractual provisions. It questioned the role of the state authorities in allowing such alleged irregularities.

Kumaraswamy said land acquired for the project was meant to be used strictly for the approved purpose. He also highlighted the plight of landowners who were prevented from developing notified land after acquisition proceedings began, while compensation for subsequent development remained unavailable.

On tolls, Kumaraswamy pointed to the Toll Concession Agreement signed between the state and NICE in September 2000. While toll revisions were proposed by the government in 2008, 2010 and 2011, he said the High Court had subsequently observed that NICE increased toll rates without corresponding state notifications.

Shivakumar said on Sunday he had received Kumaraswamy’s letter but had not yet read it. “I will examine it and take a decision within the framework of law,” he said.