KIADB set to acquire 88,000 acres for industrial use
The state government plans to reserve about 30 per cent of the land for small and medium scale enterprises in all future industrial estates. The government is in the process of creating new industrial townships across the state where the SMEs will be given preference, Murugesh R Nirani, minister for large and medium industries, said.
“The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has identified 88,000 acres for industrial development across the state. Of this, the final notification has been issued for 36,000 acres. The board has also acquired 225 acres near Bangalore for expansion of Peenya Industrial Estate to form Greater Peenya Industrial Estate,” Nirani said.
Addressing a press conference, here on Tuesday organised by the Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (Kassia), he said the chambers of commerce would be given a free hand to negotiate with farmers to acquire land wherever possible for creating industrial townships. The government has taken the consent of farmers at Nelamangala to acquire land for forming the Greater Peenya industrial estate and fixed Rs 40 lakh per acre land, he said.
Countering the allegation of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda that the government was forcefully acquiring 120,000 acres from farmers, Nirani said, all the land under acquisition was with the consent of farmers. “Deve Gowda is a very senior politician and was prime minister of this country. He should use some common sense before making such allegations,” he said.
Nirani said, the government has received fresh investment proposals amounting to an investment of Rs 32,000 crore and they would be taken up for clearance during the high-level clearance committee headed by chief minister later this month.
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The new proposals include projects from Hero Motors and Honda Motorcycle and Scooters India (HMSI). Both two-wheeler companies have proposed to set up their manufacturing units in the state. Hero Motors has sought land near Dharwad while the HMSI has identified two places in Tumkur and Kolar districts, he said.
He said, the department of commerce and industries has started preparations for the next global investors’ meet in 2012. Of the 387 MoUs signed during GIM 2010, 27 projects have been completed with a cumulative investment of Rs 17,000 crore. Another 224 projects would be implemented in the next three years.
“The government has also decided to take back the land allotted to industries, if any of the projects fail to materialise within the next two years,” Nirani added.