NEW DELHI: Eyeing the Karnataka Assembly election next year, the Centre is taking stock of infrastructure projects that are relevant to the State, including the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor and the Mysuru-Bengaluru Highway projects.
“The government will review its industrial focus on south India in general and Karnataka in particular, keeping in view the upcoming State election. The government has recently asked for a list of all central government projects in and around Karnataka,” said a senior official in the Department of Industrial Policy and Planning.
A slew of announcements are likely over the coming few weeks, the official said. “Government has asked NICDIT (National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust) to put the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor on fast-track,” he added. The corridor is an upcoming mega infrastructure project of the Centre under NICDIT.
The corridor will come up along Chennai, Sriperumbudur, Ponnapanthangal, Ranipet, Chittoor, Bangarupalem, Palamaner, Bangarpet, Hoskote and Bengaluru. It has three nodal points — the Ponneri Node in Tiruvallur district of TN, Tumakuru Node in Karnataka and the Krishnapatnam Node in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.
Mega boost for investment, jobs
The Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor is expected to boost commerce between south India and east Asia by enabling quicker movement of goods from these places to Chennai and Ennore ports. The industrial corridor is also expected to generate a lot of investment, industrial units and employment.