The sluggish movement in land acquisition worsened by increase in land costs has obstructed the Karnataka government’s plan to build a new information technology (IT) hub in the vicinity of new international airport on the periphery of Bangalore.
This plan of building new IT hub was planned by Karnataka government under the plan of central government in May 2008 to boost the Information Technology Investment Regions (ITIR) in the country. In a Global Investor Meet in 2010, the Karnataka government said that the IT hub was visualized to bring in 2 lakh crore new investments and generate around million jobs.
A government official with a adequate knowledge about land acquisition process and who wanted to remain anonymous said that the department has delayed in acquiring land and now with the increased cost of land the total projected cost of the project could twofold.
In 2010, Karnataka government permitted the ITIR to build on more than 10,000 acres of land. In regarding the same, the government said in a meet that around 55 companies including many major IT companies like Cognizant, TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and many others came forward and has shown interest.
According to another person with good understanding in the land acquisition process said that in 2010, the cost of land was somewhere around 60 lakh to 75 lakh per acre but today the cost per acre of land has increased to 2 crore. He also added that private property owners who own land nearby the international airport demand for higher cost on lands.
The Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB), the agency in authority for land acquisition, handed out a notice to speed up the work of acquisition for ITIR. M N Vidyashankar, Additional Chief Secretary of Government of Karnataka said in an emailed statement that the amount of land elaborated is 2,074 acres.
The accumulating pressure on Bangalore's infrastructure has been a difficulty of constant distress for companies that played important role in making the city as IT destination in India and third in IT services being exported from the country.
With continental Europe coming-up with a notion to send more IT work to India, the industry is growing and with delay in building this new IT hub, Bangalore could lose companies that want to set up centers and the opportunity may be bagged by other cities like Indore where Tata Consultancy Services is setting up its center.
The Bangalore Political Action Committee supported by business many leaders like Mohandas Pai-Chairman of Manipal Global Education and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw-Chairman of Biocon saw Karnataka's Chief Minister Siddaramaiah regarding many concerns and also forced for quicker measure on infrastructure expansion.
The Karnataka Information Communication Technology Group headed by Mohandas Pai, who is also a former board member of Infosys in Bangalore, submitted a report to the government in January that made thorough endorsements on making Karnataka as a technology powerhouse and electronics manufacturing.
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