Centre clears foundry cluster at Belgaum

The Centre has cleared two cluster development and upgradation projects for Karnataka and will contribute Rs 70 crore. A special purpose vehicle is to be set up to run the cluster.

Also the state government has sought project assistance for setting up three more clusters as part of regional development. Speaking at the second international meet on

'The Process of Innovation and Learning in Dynamic City-Regions' here on Wednesday, Ajay Dua, secretary, industrial policy and promotion, government of India, said cluster development for foundries at Belgaum has been cleared. Value of the project is Rs 43 crore of which central share is Rs 20 crore.

"At Belgaum, the work on technology upgradation of facilities, infrastructure creation in the industrial areas and setting up of common ETP plant, power and telecom lines will take priority soon," he added.

The government has also cleared the upgradation proposal for Bangalore machine tools cluster.

This project is valued at Rs 135 crore and the centre's share is Rs 50 crore. The balance is to be raised by the state government and the industries which are located in it.

Delivering his keynote address, Karnataka large and medium industries minister said the state government has sought assistance in setting up clusters at Gulbarga for bidari (carving on metal) works and other handicrafts related industries, Tumkur for coir based industries, Hubli-Dharwad for industrial valves and Shimoga for auto ancillaries.

The state government is committed to creating infrastructure to attract industrial investments at these clusters. By doing this regional development will take place giving employment at the district and taluk level, he added.

In his address F Richard, deputy director general and MD programme co-ordination and field operations "�UNIDO said the recognition of the fundamental contribution of city-regions to economic development and growth has led UNIDO to launch a series of actions to assess their importance in developing countries and economies in transition, as well as to spell out the major challenges faced by and opportunities offered to them by the globalisation process.

These series of meets organised by UNIDO plans to help countries to establish links with global production networks, the attraction of FDI, and the creation of sound partnerships with large corporations, he added.