

BELAGAVI: Stating that the State Government is making all efforts to boost industries in Karnataka, including in aerospace and defense sector, Minister for Medium and Large Industries MB Patil has said that suitable land has been identified in Belagavi to set up an industrial park.
Replying to BJP MLA Arvind Bellad during Question Hour in the Assembly on Friday, Patil said that many industrialists were evincing interest in the establishing industries in Belagavi. “A meeting will be held in the presence of Belagavi District In-charge Minister Satish Jarkiholi to finalise the issue of the park”.
With regard to establishing defence corridors in the state, he said that the government has proposed to set up two zones in Karnataka for the purpose. One zone includes the stretch between Belagavi, Dharwad and Vijayapura and the second zone between Bengaluru, Bengaluru Rural, and Chikkabalapur.
Pail said that he has already met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh seeking the Centre’s approval for the proposal. To this, Bellad suggested the government identify only one zone and submit the proposal to the Centre for easy clearance.
“When I tried to contact the officials in the Centre, they told me that it would be easy for them to make a decision if the government proposed only one zone. Since North Karnataka lacks industries, the government should consider only this region as a zone for the proposal”, he said.
When Bellad demanded the government to provide special incentives to the industrialists to attract them to establish industries in North Karnataka, Patil said that as per the new industrial policy, the government is already offering special incentives for the region.
Based on the Nanjundappa report on regional imbalance, the government is offering 5% incentive to most backward and 3% to more backward districts and taluks where the industrialist wishes to set up the industry, he said.