Faced with a long delay in creation of new industrial estates by the state government, Kassia had announced that it would venture on its own in creating the required infrastructure.
The society has been registered with the Registrar of Cooperative Societies which will undertake development of new industrial townships at various places in the state. To begin with it proposes to acquire land at Dobbaspet from private landowners and develop the estates, Kassia President MCR Shetty said.
New estates will be developed exclusively for relocating existing units facing policy hurdles like pollution control norms. Initially, it has proposed to develop the estate in about 50 acres and allot land to about 750-1,000 small scale units. Kassia plans to engage a real estate developer to create necessary infrastructure like roads, water and effluent treatment plant.
"Gone are the days when the SSI sector was totally dependent on the government agencies for allotment of land and readymade sheds to start production units. But now the scene is totally different. Many SSI units have opened their units in private rented properties, mostly within the residential areas. So, in order to help such units, which are causing sound and air pollution, Kassia has come out with this proposal," Shetty said.
He said Kassia has sought 300 acres from the state government to develop a new industrial estate in and around Dobbaspet near Tumkur.
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"We had approached the previous government with a demand to either allot us land or give a no objection certificate from the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) to acquire land from private landowners. We have been given an in-principle approval for the allotment of land. Meanwhile, the government collapsed and the project is held up. Once the new government takes over, we hope to get the things moving in the right direction," Shetty told Business Standard.
The land will be allotted to the members of Kassia who are currently functioning out of rented premises in the city and are facing huge burden to pay exhorbitant rents, he said.
Presently, 2.80 lakh SSI units are functioning in the state, of which 15,000 are working out of sheds provided by Karnataka Small Scale Industries Development Corporation and 1,800 have been allotted land by KIADB.
While the remaining have set up their units in private industrial estates and residential colonies in as many as 36 locations. In the second phase, Kassia plans to create similar industrial townships in tier-II and tier-III cities in the state.