Where's the land for Hi-Tech City project?

Last week, the state government cleared the final hurdle in the way of the Hi-Tech City project proposed by the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) over five years ago. But the BDA is now facing a major problem "" availability of land.

For, a portion of the land earmarked for the project five years ago has been acquired by private developers while another portion is included under the 'Green Belt? in the revised Comprehensive Development Plan for the City.

"Buildings and other permanent structures have already come up on 32 per cent of the land identified for the Hi-Tech City project. Another 25 per cent has been included under the Green Belt. Now, we have no option other than to identify a new location for the project," BDA official sources told Business Standard.

The BDA has not only "lost" the land identified for the project, but has also suffered a loss of Rs 1.34 crore in the process. Much before the government cleared the hurdles for implementing the project, the BDA engaged the services of a private firm to prepare the master plan. Now, with a major portion of the land earmarked for the project unavailable, the masterplan will be of no use to the BDA. The Comptroller and Auditor General has pulled up the BDA for this. "Entrusting a firm to prepare the masterplan of the project without specific legislative sanction and failure to prevent construction on the earmarked land has resulted in the fee of Rs 1.34 crore paid to the firm going waste," the CAG has said in its 2005 report.

BDA officials contend that the state government was responsible for the delay. "BDA is primarily a residential township forming agency without any powers to execute IT projects. An amendment to the BDA Act was required to implement the Hi-Tech City project. The government took five years to amend the BDA Act," they pointed out.

The BDA (Second Amendment) Bill 2006 tabled by chief minister H D Kumaraswamy proposed to amend Section 38(B) of the BDA Act 1976 to make provision for implementing the Hi-Tech City. It was passed in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly last week.

The Hi-Tech City project is part of the IT Corridor project aimed at decongesting the city and creating an exclusive township for the IT sector, between Sarjapur Road and Hosur Road. A double road connecting Airport Road and Hosur Road is also part of the project.

The erstwhile Congress government, headed by chief minister S M Krishna, had entrusted the BDA with the task of implementing the Hi-Tech City project. The BDA was thrust with the new responsibility since it was considered as a performer among government agencies. However, before the BDA could implement the project, the state went to the polls.

Subsequently, when the Congress-JD(S) coalition government came to power, the Hi-Tech City project lost importance owing to the administration's pro-rural tilt. But the new Karnataka Development Front government has shown interest in implementing the project.

"We have lost precious time. Now, the project has to be started from scratch. We have to identify new land in the same location and notify it for acquisition. The entire process may consume another five months," the BDA officials said.