Now Reading: NICE collected Rs 4,756 crore toll illegally, alleges Kumaraswamy
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NICE collected Rs 4,756 crore toll illegally, alleges Kumaraswamy
Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday, 7 October, alleged that Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) has collected Rs 4,756.48 crore in toll revenue since 2008 in violation of the Toll Concession Agreement, despite the project remaining incomplete. He said annual toll collections grew from Rs 5.59 crore in 2008-09 to Rs 734.97 crore by 2024-25, nearly three times the original project cost of Rs 1,583.76 crore. Kumaraswamy cited a Karnataka High Court judgment of 29 July that, he said, held that altering the original agreement amounted to a ‘fraud on statute and the Constitution’.
The minister demanded that toll collection be stopped immediately, given the absence of a Supreme Court stay on the judgment. He also alleged that NICE generated Rs 384 crore from land sales, Rs 108 crore from joint development advances, and Rs 338 crore from convention centres in violation of the original Framework Agreement. A case is scheduled for hearing in the Supreme Court on 2 November. Kumaraswamy urged commuters not to pay toll charges on the NICE road.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Both outlets report the same press conference and the same figures from H.D. Kumaraswamy without adding independent verification or counter-comment from NICE. The Hindu foregrounds the Karnataka High Court judgment of 29 July and Kumaraswamy’s claim that altering the original agreement through the ODP amounted to ‘fraud on statute and the Constitution’, a legal framing absent from the Deccan Herald version. The Deccan Herald instead leads with the narrower allegation of ‘illegal’ toll collection and adds an explicit plea to commuters not to pay, as well as details of the upcoming Supreme Court hearing on 2 November and other revenue streams from land sales and convention centres. The Hindu closes on Kumaraswamy’s argument that tolls should be stopped immediately given the absence of a Supreme Court stay. The Deccan Herald ends on the hearing date and a request for documents.
Coverage: 2 sources, 2 government-critical
Sources (2): thehindu.com (government critical), deccanherald.com (government critical)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
