Bio-diesel park, ITIR among new projects coming up at Karnataka

A bio-diesel park panning 30 acres in the Karnataka State Women's University campus in Bijapur has been set up by the Karnataka State Bio-Diesel Task Force and forest department in the state. On July 18, the Minister for large and medium industries, Mr Murugesh Nirani, inaugurated the park which has been granted US$ 21,139 for development. The Bijapur bio-diesel park is amongst four such parks that are being set up across various locations in the state.

The unit will function both as bio-diesel production and an information centre as well for conducting research activities. This will help the university students too to perform research and the unit would also work as a production incubator for farmers. The waste products from the bio-diesel unit will be used up as wormy compost and organic farming.

Earlier, on July 15, 2010, the state legislative assembly passed a Bill to facilitate setting up of an information technology investment region (ITIR) in Karnataka on July 15, 2010. The Act will be called the Karnataka Information Technology Investment Regions Act, 2010. Thus, the state would become the first state in the country to establish an ITIR to further investment, boost exports and generate employment once approval from the Centre is availed. Global consulting firm, Deloitte, has prepared the detailed project report for the ITIR.

The ITIR is expected to be developed in two phases and would be spread over 10,000 acres near Bengaluru International Airport at Devanahalli. It is likely to attract an investment of over US$ 42.26 billion. The state government is also seeking private sector participation for developing infrastructure in the region.

The ITIR is to be developed as an integrated township with modern amenities like roads, a railway network, metro rail and mini airport connectivity, to facilitate faster connectivity to the region for investors. The companies setting up businesses in ITIR would enjoy similar kind of tax concessions as they enjoy at IT SEZs, according to Infosys Managing Director and CEO, Kris Gopalakrishnan.