K'taka to hand over land to DLF soon

Karnataka, which recently awarded the Bidadi Knowledge City project on Bangalore's outskirts to realty firm DLF Ltd, will transfer the land in a couple of months.

A top official of the Karnataka government said on Thursday that the process of acquiring the land for the project is nearing completion.

The project requires 9,187 acres of land. A major portion of this is already in the possession of the state government while the remaining share is being acquired.

''We expect certain formalities to be completed in the coming days. The land will be handed over to DLF in two months. We expect the project to attract investments in IT, ITeS industries in a large way,'' M N Vidyashankar, Karnataka's IT/BT/S&T Secretary, said.

According to a government estimate, investments worth Rs 60,000 crore are expected to be made once the project is complete.

Addressing the inaugural session of the 'Embedded Systems Conference India 2007', Vidyashankar pointed out that the government has proposed to set up 14 SEZs within the Knowledge City.

''The SEZs will be sector-specific. There will be SEZs for IT, TeS, semiconductors, embedded systems, chip design houses and various industry bodies,'' he added.

In an effort to link the Knowledge City with the upcoming Bangalore International Airport, the government has proposed to construct a six-lane 36 km-long expressway.

''The government is in the process of issuing tenders to develop this expressway. We expect it to be ready within 18 months from the date of commencement,'' Vidyashankar added.