Karnataka Industries Minister Patil announces 12 new investment zones in state
Bengaluru, Feb 11 (PTI): Karnataka Large and Medium Industries Minister M B Patil on Tuesday announced establishing 12 new investment zones across 30,000 acres in the state, alongside over 200 existing industrial areas.
Speaking at the inaugural event of Invest Karnataka-2025 summit here, he said these zones will be equipped with world-class infrastructure with Rs 3,800 crore allocated for providing clean water to industrial areas.
He said the government’s policy is focused on reducing production costs while improving efficiency. To achieve this, a ‘cluster-based policy’ has been adopted, which involves setting up clusters for aerospace and defence, electric vehicle manufacturing, pharmaceutical, deep-tech, and drone parks across the state.
The minister said the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has already developed more than 85,000 acres of industrial land, which is home to 25,000 industries.
"With fierce competition from China and global uncertainties, the state is determined to redefine its industrial landscape. Through digital transformation, eco-friendly initiatives, and a focus on competitiveness, Karnataka is set to become a global manufacturing and innovation hub," Patil remarked.
Technological adoption, investment attraction, and the establishment of competitive industries are seen as key drivers for future economic growth, the minister said.
The government is also implementing digital transformation within the industrial sector. Special attention is being given to eco-friendly initiatives and reducing emissions, he added.
The government is also focusing on supporting small and medium industries, which employ 55 lakh people across eight lakh medium, small and micro units, to drive economic growth and job creation, he added.
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NEET-UG: 2 more held, role of several NTA officers under scanner; CBI focussing on source of leak
New Delhi (PTI): The CBI has arrested two more persons in connection with the NEET (UG) paper-leak case, with the role of several officers of the National Testing Agency (NTA) and other organisations, who had access to the printing press where the papers were printed, coming under the scanner, officials said on Thursday.
The agency has arrested Dhananjay Lokhanda from Ahilyanagar and Manisha Waghmare from Pune and conducted searches at 14 locations across the country in the last 24 hours, they said.
The CBI is focussing on identifying the source of the leak that has caused massive disappointment to lakhs of aspirants eyeing a seat in undergraduate medical courses, which are allotted after the highly-competitive examination, the officials said.
According to the CBI probe so far, the involvement of public servants in the leak cannot be ruled out.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three individuals from Jaipur -- Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal and Dinesh Biwal -- along with Yash Yadav from Gurugram and Shubham Khairnar from Nashik.
Khairnar was in touch with Yadav and informed him in April that Mangilal Biwal was ready to pay Rs 10-12 lakh for arranging leaked NEET (UG) 2026 questions for his younger son.
Khairnar allegedly provided 500 to 600 questions from the leaked paper to Yadav, the officials said, adding that the questions could have helped score enough marks to get a seat in a reputed medical college.
Mangilal Biwal allegedly procured the paper from Yadav, who was known to his elder son Vikas Biwal from an NEET coaching in Rajasthan's Sikar. The deal between Mangilal Biwal and Yadav was for Rs 10 lakh, if 150 questions from the question bank matched with those in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) paper, the officials said.
Mangilal Biwal shared the paper with his son and further distributed it among relatives.
Yadav also told Vikas Biwal to find additional candidates for the questions to recover some of the money that he had spent on getting those, the officials said.
An analysis of digital devices has given the agency incriminating chats, leaked question papers and other digital evidence. The CBI will subject the devices to a forensic examination to get the deleted data, the officials said.
The federal agency has registered an FIR and formed teams to probe the alleged NEET (UG) paper leak that resulted in the cancellation of the exam held on May 3.
The NEET (UG) 2026 was conducted across 551 Indian cities and at 14 overseas centres. Nearly 23 lakh candidates had registered for the test, which was administered by the NTA at centres across the country.
According to the NTA, information regarding alleged malpractice was received on the evening of May 7, four days after the examination was held. The NTA said the inputs were escalated to central agencies the following morning for "independent verification and necessary action".
The Rajasthan Police's Special Operations Group (SOG) has claimed that a "guess paper" for chemistry, allegedly circulated among students ahead of the examination, had approximately 410 questions, including roughly 120 that appeared in the test.
