HDK will visit villages along the NICE section from October 2 and meet affected families

Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy during an interaction with farmers affected by the NICE project on Sunday. | Photo credit: Special arrangement

Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Sunday announced that he will visit villages along the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) road from October 2 and meet all the families affected by the project.

Mr. Kumaraswamy interacted with the farmers who lost their land to the NICE project and received their representation. He promised the farmers that he would fight the project.

After interacting with the media, Mr. Kumaraswamy said that the court found that the toll on the NICE road was being collected illegally but the state government instead of addressing the issue gave reasons.

“I and HD Deve Gowda have both written to the Chief Minister about NICE toll collection but we have not received any response,” he said.

Mr Kumaraswamy hit out at the government, claiming it was protecting the promoter of NICE Road, Ashok Kheny, despite the Supreme Court making strong observations on the NICE project, questioning their continued support.

The Union Minister said he would visit all the villages from Madavara to Electronics City along the NICE stretch and speak to the affected families. “If the government’s stand remains the same even after I complete visiting the villages, I will decide my next step to protest the matter,” he said.

He also said that he will present in detail what happened in the past in connection with the project and who made what modifications to the original framework agreement.

Published – 27 Sep 2026 22:06 IST