“There was a stay in the high court for about 700 acres as the farmers had gone to court. We got the stay vacated just a week ago. We will complete the process of payment of compensation to farmers and then the land will be ready for allotment to industries,” said K Ratna Prabha, additional chief secretary, commerce & industries department, Karnataka.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on ‘Ease of Doing Business in Karnataka’, organised by the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC), here today, she said the government would encourage industries to go beyond Bangalore by offering them a package of incentives.
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A new incentive package would be announced in the new industrial policy which will be announced later this month, she said.
“We have completed the process of drafting a new industrial policy for the next five years and submitted it to the state cabinet for approval. The cabinet is likely to take up the matter any time now, and once it is approved, it will be announced,” she said.
At Yadgir, which is one of the most-backward districts in Karnataka, the state government proposes to develop a pharma city, a proposal that had been pending for four years. Coca Cola India will be one of the anchor industries in Yadgir, she said.
Recently, the Gulbarga High Court bench vacated the stay on the land acquisition for Yadgir industrial estate.
“Coca Cola had shown interest in setting up a new plant in Yadgir. But due to the court stay, it had asked for a different location, at Mysore. We have now told them to go back to Yadgir as the court has vacated the stay. If they go to Yadgir, we can promote the place and attract other investors,” Ratna Prabha said.
Yadgir is a strategically-located place for industrial development as it is very close to the Rajiv Gandhi Hyderabad International Airport and has abundant water resources and low-cost workforce, she said.
The new industrial policy is aimed at attracting investment in the areas of manufacturing, textile, machine tools and give thrust on employment generation, she said.
Besides Yadgir, the government is planning to develop cities like Belgaum, Hubli, Dharwad, Mangalore, Davanagere and Mysore among others for attracting investment, Ratna Prabha added.