Bangalore to have three new industrial estates

The state-owned Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation (KSSIDC) has agreed to act as a nodal agency for creation of three new industrial estates for small and medium enterprises near Bangalore.

The board has already made a formal request to the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) to start the land acquisition process.

Deputy chief minister and finance minister B S Yediyurappa had announced in his budget speech the creation of 25 layouts across the state with emphasis on backward areas to help tiny and small scale sector industries and earmarked Rs 8 crore for this purpose.

The state government had constituted a committee comprising 18 members under the chairmanship of state minister for small scale industries Katta Subramanya Naidu to suggest ways and means to develop the townships.

According to Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (Kassia) president Hareesh P Hegde, the state government has assured the small scale sector that it would put in place three new industrial estates for small and medium enterprises near Bangalore during the current year.

The three new industrial townships will be located at Ganapathihalli on Magadi road, Solur near Peenya and Doddaballapur.

Talking to Business Standard, Hegde said 2,500 acres at Ganapathihalli, 1,600 acres at Solur and 200 acres at Doddaballapur have been identified for creation of industrial townships.

However, Kassia has demanded allotment of 3,000 acres at Ganapathihalli, 4,000 acres at Solur and 700 acres at Doddaballapur.

There will be two separate clusters for gems and jewellery units on an area of 200 acres and apparel park in an area of 500 acres at Doddaballapur. Kassia has asked the government to acquire 10,000 acres land for the purpose. The acquisition process is expected to be completed within 8 to 10 months.

"Most of the existing industries in Peenya industrial estate want to expand their production units and there is insufficient space for doing it. We are also finding it very difficult to continue production in some of the residential areas of Bangalore like Kamakshipalya. The creation of new industrial townships will enable industries in the residential areas to relocate their units as well as help others expand their capacities," Hegde said.

It has been proposed to allocate land at these townships to only small and medium scale industries. While 80 per cent of the land will be utilised for the expansion activities of existing units in different places in Bangalore, the remaining land will be allocated to new industries, he said.

In addition to these three new industrial townships, businessmen have also urged the government to set apart 500 acres each at Kaikamba near Mangalore and at a suitable place near the Mysore airport for creation of new industrial estates.

While sufficient land is available at Mangalore, there is no suitable land available in Mysore. "We have urged the government to identify suitable land in Mysore for creation of industrial township," he added.

Hegde said Kassia had also requested the government to make provision for residential colonies adjacent to these proposed industrial townships in order to help entrepreneurs and workers to reach their factories easily, which would also help in decongesting the city.

The townships will provide all the necessary infrastructure to the SMEs. The proposed townships are expected to generate employment to over 2 lakh people.

The second phase of the project will see the development of similar industrial townships in Mysore, Hubli, Belgaum, Mangalore and Shimoga.