Karnataka to acquire 50,000 acres of land for industries ahead of Global Investors Meet in November
Bengaluru, May 7: In an effort to allot land in quick time to industrialists who come forward to set up industries, the Karnataka government will acquire over 50,000 acres of land across the state, Large and Medium Industries Minister Dr Murugesh Nirani announced on Saturday after inaugurating the India Manufacturing Show 2022: Curtain Raiser here.
Stressing on the importance of land acquisition ahead of the upcoming Global Investors Meet (GIM) in Bengaluru, Nirani said it is imperative on the part of the government to acquire land for investors.
"Silicon city Bengaluru will host the Global Investors Meet from November 2 to 4 this year. Our department will acquire 50,000 acres of land across the state. We will allot land to industrialists in real quick time and provide world-class facilities including water, power and roads," the minister's office quoted him as saying in a statement.
Setting up more industries will help create additional jobs for local people and solve unemployment problem in the state, Nirani said.
Emphasising on taking industrial growth beyond Bengaluru, Nirani said industries will be promoted in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
"We will encourage industries in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities under the central government's Aatmanirbhar Bharat scheme. Besides, our government will also implement 'One District, One Product' policy soon which will help identify and promote a product in each district," Nirani said.
The industrialists involved in these products can get up to Rs 10 lakh per unit as credit-linked capital subsidy for 35 per cent of project cost, Nirani suggested.
Pointing out another government initiative to encourage balanced industrialisation across the state, the minister mentioned special sops for cluster-based industrial parks.
"We have announced special concessions for each industrial cluster. The toy cluster in Koppal has already started functioning with all the support required for this cluster, including social and housing facilities," Nirani added.
The minister said the government has prepared guidelines briefing investment opportunities available for investors in the various sectors including automobile, pharmacy, medical equipment, engineering, machineries, knowledge-based industries, logistics, renewable energy, aerospace, defence and electric vehicles.
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Drought relief: Karnataka govt to pay Rs 3,000 each to 16 lakh small and marginal farming families
Bengaluru, May 9: The Karnataka government, for the first time, has decided to pay Rs 3,000 each to 16 lakh agricultural families involved in small and marginal farming to compensate for the loss of their livelihood due to drought, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said on Thursday.
With the rains picking up in the state, he also said that the government has designed measures to prevent loss of life due to lightning strikes.
"There are about 16 lakh families of small and marginal farmers involved in dry farming. It has been decided to give Rs 3,000 each to these families to compensate for the loss of their livelihood due to drought, and officials have been directed to take action in this regard immediately," Gowda said.
While speaking to reporters here, he said, "This will be paid to farmers from both SDRF and NDRF funds, and also funds from the state government. It will be about Rs 460 crore. Officers have been directed to work this out. This is being done for the first time. But, there is a provision for it in the drought manual."
Karnataka had declared 223 out of 240 taluks as drought-hit; 196 of them were categorised as severely drought affected.
Noting that all together about Rs 4,300 crore would be credited to the accounts of the farmers in the state as drought relief, the minister said it may take 20 days to complete this process, and already about Rs 3,000 crore has been deposited to the bank accounts of over 32 lakh farmers.
He said, "After going to the Supreme Court and the legal fight, so far about Rs 3,454 crore has come (from the Centre) as drought relief, which the government has started depositing into the bank accounts of farmers from last Monday itself. And so far, the relief has been completely been deposited to the accounts of 32.12 lakh farmers."
Together, from the first and second installments, so far Rs 3,000 crore has been deposited to the bank accounts of the farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), he added.
Noting that the second installment of relief is yet to be deposited to the accounts of about 1.5 lakh farmers, he said it is in the verification stage due to minor technical issues. "Once it is cleared, relief would have gone to over 33 lakh farmers' accounts," he added.
Apart from this, it has been decided that compensation would be distributed for rain-fed and irrigated crops which were not included in the drought relief list in some taluks, despite them being eligible, he said. About 3 lakh eligible farmers would get the relief of Rs 400-500 crore in total.
"The process has started and this will be done within 10 days after verification by Deputy Commissioners of the districts," he added.
Responding to a question on whether the drinking water scarcity has reduced due to rains, the minister said, "It has not reduced, but chances of it aggravating are fewer. Drinking water is being supplied through tankers to 270 villages and through private borewells to 594 villages."
"In urban areas, supply is done through tankers to 150 wards and through private borewells in 29 wards," he said, adding that things seem to be under control.
Stating that there are reports predicting good rains in the state this year, Gowda said most parts of the state are likely to get above-normal rains this time.
From April till now, 17 persons have died due to lightning strikes. Last year, this number was 68, he said, adding that certain preventive measures have been designed in this regard, but the government has not been able to implement it due to the Lok Sabha polls and Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
