Bangalore, Feb 25 (Inditop.com) The Karnataka government would build an integrated IT city near the Bangalore international airport to attract more investments in the knowledge sector, Governor H.R. Bhardwaj said Thursday.
“The state government has initiated measures to build an integrated IT city near the airport at Devanahalli, based on the central government’s guidelines to create an IT investment region,” Bhardwaj told law-makers in his address to the joint session of the state legislature in the Vidhan Soudha here.
Devanahalli is about 40 km from the city.
Outlining the state’s industrial growth plans for the ensuing fiscal (2010-11), the governor said the government has approved proposals to set up 76 large and mega industries across the state with an investment of Rs.195,000 crore (Rs.1.95 trillion), with potential to create about 320,000 jobs.
“The government will develop industrial corridors and link them with core sectors such as IT (information technology), BT (bio-technology), automobiles, pharma, textiles, steel and cement. In line with the new industrial policy, additional incentives will be given in backward districts,” Bhardwaj said in his hour-long address.
The 2009 industrial policy offers a slew of incentives, including interest free loan on VAT (value added tax), anchor unit subsidy, interest subsidy, incentives for energy and water conservation.
The governor also noted the IT industry’s overwhelming response to the government’s scheme to set up rural BPOs (business process outsourcing) centres to create jobs and check migration to urban areas.
“Sector-specific BT parks will be located at Mysore, Mangalore, Dharwad and Bidar in the state to decongest Bangalore and attract investments across the state for socio-economic development of the region and create employment opportunities,” Bhardwaj pointed out.
Reiterating the state government’s commitment to build infrastructure across the state, the governor said to improve air connectivity, plans have been drawn to develop airports at Shimoga, Gulbarga, Bijapur and Hassan on the PPP (public-private partnership) model for providing feeder service.
“The Mysore airport expansion has been completed for commencing operations. Additional land is being acquired to upgrade and expand existing airports at Hubli, Mangalore and Belgaum,” Bhardwaj said.
The government also proposes to develop 11 airstrips at Davangere, Raichur, Chikmagalur, Udupi, Kushalnagar, Gokarana, Chitradurga, Bagalkot, Haveri, Gadag and Kollegal.
For the speedy completion of the new rail lines in the state, the state government will fund 50 percent of the project cost and the cost of land acquisition.
Stressing the need for quality road network for overall development, the governor said the World Bank has cleared tendering for upgrading 826 km of roads at an estimated cost of Rs.1,650 crore under the Karnataka state highway improvement project-2.
