Karnataka clears 19 mega projects

The Dharam Singh-led coalition government cleared 19 mega projects, envisaging a total investment of Rs 27,000 crore in 2004. All projects together will have the potential to employ 41,000 people.

The state is also in the process of signing MoUs with a clutch of corporations which are expected to generate investments of Rs 30,000 crore and eventually employ 60,000 people.

Announcing these details in Bangalore on Thursday, Karnataka industries minister P G R Sindhia said: "There has been a lot of talk that the current Karnataka government is not pro-industry, which is totally baseless. The fact that we have cleared projects with so much of investments during the past six months indicates that we are for growth of industries and commerce in Karnataka."

Sindhia also said that at the district-level, 5,000 small scale industries have been granted approval which will see an investment of Rs 200 crore and a potential to employ 25,000 people.

Commenting on the subsidy support to SSIs, Sindhia added that the government has released Rs 100 crore which has been pending for the past six years and will release a further Rs 100 crore in the near future.

Reiterating that the current government is aggresively promoting industries and is for boosting them in the state, Karnataka deputy CM Siddaramiah said: "We are working on a whole host of initiatives which will give a fillip to industries in the state. As a democratic government, we are committed to social justice and we are giving equal importance to both rural and urban development. Just because we talk more about rural development, it does not mean that we are against industrial development."

The state industries department on Thursday signed an MoU with Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) for economic development of the state.

Under the agreement, both these bodies will jointly work for promotion of SMEs in the state through appropriate policy prescriptions, besides creation of quality and reliable infrastructure to meet global standards.

Said S Chandrasekhar, president, BCIC: "The MoU will also attempt to undertake radical reforms in labour laws, remove regional industrial and economic imbalance by initiating relevant and appropriate measures in the backward districts, besides fostering growth and development of specific sectors where the state has comparative advantage."

To implement the objectives of the MoU, a task force will be constituted which will also look into adoption of Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) by the industry to convert them into centres of excellence.