With the Uttarakhand government announcing its plans to set up a new IIM at the industrial town of Kashipur in Kumaon region, a move is afoot to set up an industrial estate side by side.
The new IIM would be coming up at Escorts Farms in Kashipur where the government has in its kitty nearly 530 acres of land. “We are setting up the new IIM at Kashipur with an investment of Rs 600 crore,” said Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. According to an estimate, since IIM requires not more than 200 acres, a new industrial estate can be developed on the rest of the land available at Kashipur. For this purpose, the State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (Sidcul) would shortly approach the government for its proposal to develop industrial estate for SME units there.
Sidcul, which has already developed the key Pantnagar and Haridwar industrial estates, had put up the proposal before its Board in 2008 to develop the industrial estate at Escorts Farms. But the Board in turn deferred the proposal. “We will again put up the proposal before the Board,” said an official.
After Haridwar and Pantnagar, where top companies like Tata Motors, Voltas, Nestle, Britannia and Bajaj Auto set up new units, the Escort Farms industrial estate will still be a big one where the officials are hoping that it can also become a hub for IT and education.
The government estimate suggests that the new industrial estate can attract investment of Rs 3,000-5,000 crore. Since Escorts Farms falls in non-notified area, the government is expecting only thrust industries to set up their new units there.