From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Aug 28: A high-level meeting with state and central government officers on the pending issues pertaining to mines and geology department in Karnataka held under the chairmanship of chief minister B S Yediyurappa has decided to press Centre to enable the state to acquire 3,200 acres of land belonging to Bharat Gold Mines Ltd (BGML) for establishing an industrial park.
Union minister for coal, parliamentary affairs and mines Prahlad Joshi attended the meeting along with central government officers, in which Karnataka’s Large and medium industries minister Jagadish Shettar and state officials participated.
“We held talks with union minister Prahlad Joshi to obtain 3,200 acres of unused land at Bharat Gold Mines Ltd to set up an industrial park in Kolar,” large and medium scale industries minister Jagadish Shettar said after the meeting in Vidhana Soudha on Friday, August 28.
Karnataka’s Industries department’s One Year achievement book was released by the chief minister during the meeting.
The chief minister said BGML had 12,109 acres of land in Bangarpet taluk of Kolar district, of which 2,213 acres parcel was ideally suited for developing into an industrial area.
Solar, automobiles, electronics and pharmaceuticals manufacturing units could be set up in the industrial area as it had excellent rail and road transport links, Yediyurappa said.
Union minister Prahlad Joshi directed the central officials to examine the entire issue and submit a detailed report in the next six months. He also directed the officials to assess the availability of mineral deposits in Kolar Gold Fields and conduct a joint survey along with Karnataka government officials.
The actual availability of the land will be known in six months after a survey is undertaken by the mines and geology department to assess the presence of any natural resources, Shettar said.
After the survey, if the land parcel does not possess any natural resources, then Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) shall obtain the land from the ministry of mines with necessary approvals to set up an industrial park.
The land is strategically located at 90 km from Bangalore airport, 260 km from Chennai Port, 314 km from Krishnapatnam port, he said.
The 3200-acre land parcel is under the ownership of Bharat Gold Mines Ltd, which falls under the administration of Kolar Gold Fields. The land parcel has the necessary infrastructure required to set up a full-fledged industrial park and generate employment to Kolar district. This is an effort by the state government to attract investments to the state and decongest Bengaluru and create industrial hubs across the state.
"Karnataka has attracted investments worth Rs 31,676.57 crore in the last five months and is expected to generate 65,459 direct employment opportunities, despite a global Covid-19 pandemic and months of stringent lockdown,” Shettar said.
The investment has been cleared in quick approvals under the State Level Single Window Clearance Committee (SLSWCC), State High-Level Clearance Committee (SHLCC) and Land Approval Committee (LAC) during the last five months between March-August 2020.
Keeping the investor-centric approach, our government has launched the New Industrial Policy 2020-2025, to build a prosperous Karnataka and create large-scale employment opportunities.
"This industrial policy is very forward-looking and brings with it several incentives and regulatory reforms such as land access and labour market regulation. Promoting economic and industrial development of our state has always been a top priority for our government,’’ he said.
Karnataka has been an attractive investment destination and is one of the most industrially advanced states in India. Karnataka is a nearly USD 250 billion economy and has been leading the country in several sectors.
"We have decided to amend the Karnataka Industrial Facilitation Act (2002) and allow industries to commence operations as soon as they get the necessary approval without having to wait for multiple clearances," Shettar added.
Prahlad Joshi also said Mandakini and Durgapur coal mines in Odisha state had been allocated to Karnataka and mentioned that the necessary approvals have already been sent to Odisha government. He said the Centre would examine all pending issues and ensure speedy disposal and approvals. The chief minister urged the union minister to ensure that the reduced price for the coal supplied to Karnataka from the Singareni coal mines as it was too exorbitant. He also requested the Centre to supply an additional 6 million tonnes of coal for the Raichur thermal plant along with the 2,475 million tonnes already provided.
Revenue minister R Ashok, mines and geology minister C Patil, chief secretary T M Vijaya Bhaskar, energy department additional chief secretary Mahendra Jain, mines and geology department principal secretary Kumar Nayak, industries and commerce department principal secretary Gaurav Gupta along with Union mines and geology department secretary Anil Kumar Jain and other senior officials from both the state and central governments attended the meeting.