12 p.c. growth targeted: Deshpande

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, OCT. 17. ``The Government has no business to do business.'' Making this statement, the Minister for Large and Medium-scale Industries, Mr. R.V. Deshpande, reiterated here on Wednesday that the State Government would go ahead with disinvestment from 15 State undertakings, and concentrate on core-infrastructure development.

Participating in a ``Meet the Press'' programme organised by the Press Club of Bangalore, Mr. Deshpande said the Government was strapped for resources, and it would only act as a facilitator of industrial development. Industrial growth in the State was about eight per cent, and the target was 12 per cent as against the national average of six to seven per cent, he added.

He said that on October 15, the State-level Single Window Agency cleared 12 medium and large projects with an investment of Rs. 239.49 crores. These projects, which would help provide employment to 7,000 persons, were proposed by GE Capital International Services (IT-enabled service), ITC Limited (food processing), Bharathiyam Food and Beverages (mineral water), Metahelix Life Sciences (bio-informatics), Diamond Biotech (immuno-chemicals), Venugopal Flour Mills (wheat products), Ecovinal International Limited (vinegar production), XER (imax theatre), Millennia Realtors and the former legislator, Mr. Ramachandra Reddy (software technology parks), R.K. Powergen (bio-mass-based power project), and Aurigene Discovery Technologies (bio-technology).

Highlighting the achievements of the Congress Government in the past two years, Mr. Deshpande said that in line with its progressive thinking, the Government was introducing legislation on industrial townships in the next legislature session. The proposed townships, he said, would have to manage themselves, and would include industrial estates in Peenya and Hubli.

He said Karnataka, now third after Maharashtra and Delhi in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), was hoping to gain the first place. From August 1991 to August 2001, 1,001 projects had been approved. Of them, 435 had been implemented and two were shelved. The rest were under different stages of implementation. The total investment was Rs. 20,726 crores.

Giving details of the outcome of the Global Investors' Meet in June 2000, he said of the 47 mega projects approved, two projects with an investment of Rs. 208 crores had been commissioned, and the implementation of 11 projects with an investment of Rs. 7,470 crores had commenced. Of the 178 medium-scale projects, 30 had been commissioned. The latter had an investment of Rs. 325 crores.

Mr. Deshpande said the Union Government had approved establishment of agro- and food-processing parks at Malur and Bagalkot. They would be set up with private initiative. Similarly, a steel technology institute in Bellary would come up with the combined efforts of the State and Union governments, and the private sector. It had also been planned to set up apparel parks in Doddaballapur and Bellary.

Emphasising the Government's focus on infrastructure development, Mr. Deshpande said land acquisition for the export promotion industrial park in Mangalore would be completed in three months. For the International Airport Project at Devanahalli, the Government had acquired 2,600 acres of land. The owners of about 600 acres had been paid at a rate of Rs. 5 lakhs an acre. A special economic zone with private sector participation would come up in Hassan shortly, he added.

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