Bengaluru, Aug 12 (IANS): The Karnataka government is planning to turn abandoned 3,212 acres of Kolar Gold Field (KGF) into an Industrial township. Murugesh Nirani, Minister for Large and Medium Industries has already submitted a proposal in this regard to the central government.

KGF is presently under Bharath Gold Mines Limited and after conducting the drone survey, the central government has said that mining is not feasible here.

Against this backdrop, a request has been made to Union Minister for Coal and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi to convert available land at KGF into an Industrial township, explained minister Murugesh Nirani on Wednesday evening.

"This would help the development of Bengaluru Rural, Kolar, Chikkaballapur and surrounding areas. KGF is located within a distance of 100 kilometres from Bengaluru which has world-class highways, KempeGowda International Airport (KIAL), railway connection," he stated.

KGF falls between Bengaluru-Chennai Industrial corridor and it will help industrial development in the region and the creation of employment," Murugesh Nirani said.

He further stated that union minister Pralhad Joshi has assured him that he would send a team to study the feasibility and has also promised all help from the central government to utilise the land at KGF, he added.

For over a century KGF has been known for gold mining. The mine was closed on February 28, 2001, for environmental and economic reasons. The Kolar Gold mines were nationalised in 1956 and provided a total of over 900 tonnes of gold.

KGF shot to fame again after a movie named after it went on to become a blockbuster in India.