Industrialists-investors meet next month

Industrialists-investors meet next month
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Monday, October 09, 2006 at 1624 hours IST

BANGALORE, OCTOBER 9: The Karnataka government has decided to set up Special Economic Zones in Belgaum and Hubli districts as part of its drive to promote industrial activity in northern parts of the state.

In consonance with the decision to promote industrial growth in North Karnataka region, adopted at the special legislature session held at Belgaum last month, the government has decided to set up SEZ in Belgaum and Hubli, state Minister for Major Industries Katta Subramanya Naidu said.

Several industrialists have come forward to establish units at the multi-product SEZ proposed at Belgaum, which he would be visiting on October 14, Naidu said.

Besides, the government is also planning to organise a meeting of industrialists and investors next month end as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the state's formation.

Preliminary talks on the event has been held with Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, he told reporters here.

He said on October 17 he would visit Gulbarga to hold talks with industrialists and persuade them to set up more industries.

Biocon, Ashok Leyland and Gokuldas Garments have evinced interest to invest in Shimoga district and representatives of these industries have been called for a meeting there on October 28, he said.

Work on Navalur goods shed commences

Work on Navalur goods shed commences
The Newindpress.com

Friday October 6 2006 14:13 IST

HUBLI: Trilok Nath Perti, General Manager, South Western Railway, laid the foundation stone for a goods shed at Navalur near Hubli here on Thursday.

To develop Hubli station into a zonal headquarters station, it was decided to shift the existing goods shed at Hubli railway station to Navalur, Perti said.

Hubli station at present had only four platforms, hence, it was difficult to meet the demands of passengers. This also comes in the way of introducing additional trains.

Perti disclosed that the State Government had given 100 acres for this purpose free of cost at Navalur and the railways had also sanctioned Rs 11.2 crore for it.

After commissioning the Navalur project, the entire goods shed activities will be shifted there.

He informed that Hubli station would be improved by providing two additional platforms, foot overbridges, new station building and other additional facilities for passengers after shifting the goods shed.

HDMC goes ahead with city plan

HDMC goes ahead with city plan
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

5 Oct, 2006 2248hrs IST

HUBLI: Without waiting for a formal proposal from the state government to the Centre for the inclusion of Hubli-Dharwad in the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, the HDMC has prepared a draft City Development Plan for the purpose.

It is more than a month since Congress president Sonia Gandhi, while addressing a public rally in Bangalore, had made an announcement on the inclusion of the twin-cities in the JNNURM mission, but the state government is still dilly-dallying over it.

This, despite a written assurance from primary and secondary education minister Basavaraj Horatti to former HDMC mayor Anil Kumar Patil that the proposal would be sent to the Centre in the third week of September. Patil had threatened to start a rasta roko agitation.

The HDMC had commissioned the report from a consortium of Administrative Staff College of India and Ernst & Young. In the draft report submitted to the corporation last month, it has proposed an investment of Rs 472.23 crore for the city’s infrastructure till the year 2012.

The investment plan envisages Rs 43.56 crore for water supply, Rs 124 crore for sewerage, Rs 20.69 crore for solid waste management, Rs 37.95 crore for storm water drains, Rs 98.50 crore for traffic and road improvement, and Rs 147.51 crore for slum upgradation.

The preparation of the report has been financed by the Washingtonbased Cities Alliance, whose city development strategy approach has been adopted as a model, and is mandatory for accessing funds made available by the Centre under the mission.

The main objective of the City Development Plan is to ensure planned growth of Hubli-Dharwad in the desired direction, promote economic growth and service delivery, and reduce urban poverty guided by a shared vision for development of the twin-cities.

Under the mission, the central government is likely to provide financial assistance of nearly Rs 500 crore to Hubli-Dharwad, spread over the coming five to ten years, for improving urban governance and ensuring sustained economic development.

The entire exercise for preparation of the plan involved active participation of key stakeholders like Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation, Hubli-Dharwad Urban Development Authority, Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board, Karnataka Slum Clearance Board, and representatives of civil society, spread over four months.

Metro rail mooted to beat narrow roads

Metro rail mooted to beat narrow roads

M L Kapur - TIMES NEWS NETWORK

3 Oct, 2006 2322hrs IST

HUBLI: A report prepared for the Asian Development Bank-assisted North Karnataka Urban Sector Investment Project (NKUSIP) has suggested setting up of metro rail for Hubli-Dharwad, the largest urban centre in the state after Bangalore.

Prepared jointly by Wilbur Smith Associates and Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure and Financial Service, the report submitted to the government in June said: "Authorities should plan and reserve land for a rail-based mass rapid transit system."

The Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation is the implementing agency for the project, which was conceived in 2003 in pursuance of recommendations of the Nanjundappa Committee report on regional imbalance.

A study recently commissioned by HDMC, too, had recommended halfhourly local train service between Hubli and Dharwad to further decongest the killer stretch of Pune-Bangalore national highway connecting the twin-cities.

It said the existing local trains between Hubli and Dharwad have helped reduce traffic to some extent, and suggested that if found feasible, the railways should double the track between the two cities for running local trains without affecting normal rail traffic.

A consortium of Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad, and Ernst and Young did this study as part of finalising a long-term city development strategy.

Washingtonbased Cities Alliance, an initiative of the World Bank, has funded the study. As per the funding pattern for any scheme under the NKUSIP, while ADB will provide assistance to the tune of 60 cent of the total project cost, the state government will bear 32 per cent and the concerned urban local body (HDMC) will contribute 8 per cent.

However, it may be mentioned that this is the umpteenth plan for augmenting urban infrastructure in the twincities. A Hubli-Dharwad Agenda Task Force set up during the S M Krishna regime had suggested a flyover at Chennamma Circle in 2002.

Observing that inadequate road width in the central business district was a major traffic bottleneck, the NKUSIP city infrastructure report has also recommended construction of two flyovers in Hubli from Unkal Cross to Hosur Cross, and from Chennamma Circle to Gadag Road.

Similarly, a half ring road connecting Bijapur Road, Gadag Road, Pune-Bangalore highway and Karwar Road to decongest Chennamma Circle has also being talked about for a decade, but is yet to take concrete shape