Karnataka - Mysore

Entrepreneurs for cluster development of industries in Mysore region

MYSORE: Entrepreneurs and businessmen have identified core areas of specialisation and called for cluster development of industries in Mysore.

At a Vision 2020 meeting of officials and representatives of industries here recently, the speakers spoke on the imperatives of infrastructure improvement and enhancing power generation, while emphasising the need for promoting exports.

The vision group has been constituted by the State Government to formulate a roadmap for the comprehensive development of the State and its implementation. It was the second of the vision group’s meeting and was held on the Infosys campus.

Vishwanath, president of the Mysore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), supported the cluster development model and said Mysore was ideal for electronics, textiles, automobiles and food industries, among others, and said efforts should be made for their comprehensive promotion.

The MCCI also called for completion of infrastructure-related work and said the city’s growth made it imperative to have an outer peripheral road at the earliest in the wake of the increasing number of vehicles.

There was also a plea to categorise Mysore among “industrially developing” cities, which would qualify it for concessions and stamp duty exemptions till a future date. At present, Mysore has been categorised among “industrially developed” cities, and hence, does not qualify for any concessions.

The speakers said if the city was to register a robust growth, the Government should extend concessions by designating Mysore among the industrially developing cities.

Suresh Kumar Jain of the Hebbal Industries Association said the industrial area in Mysore was spread over 5,300 acres of land and additional 2,000 acres of land was to be acquired in due course. Yet, it was not serviced by a helipad and urged the Government to construct a helipad at the earliest. The existing helipad was near the Chamundi Hills and visiting businessmen could save the commuting time from the city to the industrial area, he added.

The speakers also stressed the imperatives of tapping the export potential and called for expediting the work on the export centre here. Mr. Jain also called for improving basic infrastructure in industrial areas such as Bannimantap and Yadavgiri under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission as these two areas came under the jurisdiction of the Mysore City Corporation. He said it was not enough for the Government to announce an industrial policy, but should constitute a watch dog committee to ensure its implementation.

Earlier, there was a presentation on the draft industrial policy by officials from the Industrial Development Board and it was pointed out that there was a move to facilitate acquisition of not only dry land for industrial purpose, but also agricultural land where only a single crop was harvested annually.

However, members of the Confederation of Indian Industry, Mysore chapter, took exception to this and urged the Government to do a rethink on the issue.

“At a time when food production was declining, there should be no acquisition of agricultural land for industrial purpose and only dry land should be acquired,” they said.

It was also pointed out that 20 per cent of the land acquired for industries would be earmarked for small-scale industries in future. Kris Gopala Krishnan, Managing Director of Infosys, presided over the meeting.

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