Land allotment of Rayapur land for IT Companies

Land allotment of Rayapur land for IT Companies
Source: HDMC website

Dharwad/Hubbaali:

Company Name Land to be allotted

Quest, Bangalore 25 Acres

Keonics, Bangalore 5 acres

NS Infotech, Hubli 5 acres

Diksha Technologies, Bangalore 3 acres

ADES, Dharwad 1.5 acres

PAC Soft, Bangalore 4 acres

Trinity technologies 1 acre

Mahaveer Infoway, Hubli 1 acre

Penarbor Infotech, Hubli 1 acre

Sankalp Semiconductor, Bangalore 3 acres

C2S software solution, Bangalore 3 acres

Envision, Bangalore 1 acre

Aeroule Technologies, Bangalore 2.5 acres

There is some cheers for IT-backers of the twin cities. The disappointment of IT bellwether TCS and Quest pulling out due to bureaucratic apathy will soon be overcome by the news that ICICI oneSource has evinced interest to start Its BPO operations in the twin cities.

Meanwhile, the State government. has also cleared decks to allot HDMC owned land at Rayapur for 'IT and ITeS industries.

According to highly placed Sources, ICICI oneSource is contemplating to start its off­shore outsourcing operations in Hubli.

Growing costs at tier-l cities and congestion has made the company to look towards tier-2 cities. Among the few tier-2 cities, it is learnt that, BPO wing of ICICI is planning to set up its shop with a strength of 1,200 in Hubli.

If the proposal comes through, it will be a great encouragement to attract other BPO companies to set up their operations in Hubli-Dharwad. The government should facilitate such initiatives with an open mind and encourage such ventures by providing all necessary facilities, stated.

The saga of allotting land to IT companies has continued for the last six months with Hubli-Dharwad being deprived of investment from TCS and Quest due to the delay by the government in allotting suitable land. But the district administration is still confident of persuading the companies to reconsider their decision of backing out of the projects.

"As HDMC is not permitted to sell its land directly, it needed Cabinet's nod. Finance and Urban Development departments raised some objections, resulting in the delay. However, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has signed the file and the next Cabinet meeting will ratify the proposal," Revenue Minister Jagadish Shettar told Vijay TImes.

Shettar is quite bullish about Hubli Dharwad emerging as the next tier-2 destination for investments in IT sector. "TCS wanted to invest in an IT SEZ developed either by State agencies or private companies. The State government is not in a position to develop an SEZ. It is willing to allot lands to the company. Let the company get clearance from the Centre to develop an SEZ," he remarked

"I have directed deputy commissioner M S Srikar and HDMC commissioner P Manivannan to persuade both companies to invest in Hubli. There is no dearth of land for other companies. If anybody comes with a big investment proposal the government has KIADB land to allot. It all depends on the interest of companies," he added.

While addressing an IT Investors' Meet in May, Kumaraswamy promised a hi-tech city between' Hubli and Dharwad. "if the government takes so much time to take a decision on a small piece ofland, then how many years will it need to fulfil the dream of hi-tech city," some citizens asked.

However, the news of ICICI will ring sweet bells in the ears of the citizens and they hope this will set the trend for better investment in the region.

Incomex-2007 in Hubli

Incomex-2007 in Hubli
Source: HDMC website

DHARWAD/HUBBAALI:Incomex-2007, an industrial exhibition will be held at Nehru Stadium in hubli tentatively from February 22 with a view to attract major industries to Hubli-Dharwad cities.

This ambitious exhibition is being organized jointly by Dharwad District Administration and Karnataka chamber of commerce and Industry.

A similar exhibition had been held in BVB College of Engineering & Technology in Hubli a few years ago and it had yielded desired results.

Seeing this process, the district administration and KCCI are jointly organizing this mega event.

Already ground work had started in this regard and extended invitation to over 100 industries of the entire state.

According to sources, this kind of exhibition would definitely boost the industrial growth in this region in particular and Hubli-Dharwad cities in particular.

They have plans to put up 300 stalls in the stadium for enabling local entrepreneurs to interact with representatives of the participating industries.

“We are pinning hope that this industrial exhibition will help in industrial growth in this region. The chamber has chalked out a number of plans to make it a grand event”.

The sources pointed out that such an exhibition was required in order to focus the potential available in the surrounding areas of twin cities.

The state government had earmarked a large tract of land in Belur Industrial Area, Rayapur Industrial Area and Gokul Industrial Area for the promotion of industries. Besides hubli and dharwad have good rail, road and air network.

This would be a plus point in showcasing the twin cities as the best place for setting up of new industries.

Apart from this, a large number of small scale industries and axillary units would be largely benefited by such an exhibition.

Demand to improve train services

Demand to improve train services
The Hindu - Staff Correspondent

HUBLI: Office-bearers of various organisations have urged the general manager of South Western Railway Trilok Nath Perti to take steps to increase and improve train services in the zone.

Leading a delegation here on Thursday they submitted a memorandum in this regard to Mr. Perti, and urged him to take measures to increase of frequency of certain trains, better passenger amenities and so on.

Mahendra Singhi, president, Rail Pravasi Samiti, Nazeer Ahmed Kolkar, president, KBN Minority Development Corporation, Babajan Mudhol, president, Karnataka Youth Federation, Prasad Abbaiah, director of State Dalit Mahasabha, Kiran Hombal, student Congress leader, and others were part of the delegation. Introduction of Shatabdi Express between Hubli and Delhi, overnight express train between Hubli and Bangalore, shifting of Railway Recruitment Board and Construction Office of SWR from Bangalore to Hubli, increasing the frequency of Bangalore- Ajmer biweekly train were some of the pressing demands mentioned in the memorandum.

Mr. Perti assured them that he would look into the issues and take appropriate steps.

Rs. 195 cr. sought for Hubli Airport

Rs. 195 cr. sought for Hubli Airport
The Hindu - Staff Correspondent

AAI prepares a master plan for expansion
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# Residents want an alternative site apart from the compensation
# 650 acres of land has been identified around the airport
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HUBLI: After completing the ground survey of the number of residential buildings to be acquired for the proposed expansion of Hubli Airport, the district administration has submitted a proposal seeking Rs. 195 crore for the acquisition of the buildings.

Deputy Commissioner M.S. Srikar, told the Hindu that the proposal follows the recent high-level meeting at Bangalore chaired by the Infrastructure Minister B. Sriramulu, in which the district administration was asked to submit a proposal on the availability of 650 acres of land for the expansion of Hubli Airport.

Mr. Srikar said the proposal was sent to the principal secretary, Infrastructure Department on Thursday. After the meeting at Bangalore, the district administration had held meetings with representatives of residents associations and had involved them in the ground survey conducted by the officials of the revenue department.

Over 155 houses would have to be acquired by the Government for the proposed expansion plan of the Hubli Airport.

According to him, of the 650 acres of land identified around the Hubli Airport for its expansion, 530 acres was agricultural land and remaining was non-agricultural land. However, he clarified that no agricultural activities were taking place in majority of the agricultural land around the airport. According to the master plan submitted by the Airports Authority of India, there is a need for diverting Gokul Road that runs adjacent to the current airport. Keeping this in mind the proposal included the cost of diverting Gokul Road and acquisition of land for laying the new road, Mr. Srikar said.

Mr. Srikar said the owners of the residential buildings around the airport, during their interaction with the district administration wanted an alternative site apart from the compensation.

Usually the land acquisition agency, which is most likely to be Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board, will finalise the compensation based on the current market rates and Government guidelines, he said.