CM's dependence on BSY has hit decision-making

BANGALORE: After India Inc expressed its frustration over policy paralysis at Centre, it was the turn of industry in the state.
A government body had proposed a Greater Peenya scheme with industrial estates in Ganapathihalli in Magadi taluk and Narayanarao Palya and Narasimhanapalya Palya in Nelamangala taluk. “But the Greater Peenya dream has hit a wall, dashing hopes of many small-scale industrialists,” says J R Bangera, president of industry body FKCCI.
Many say that chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda's dependence on former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa has worsened the decision-making process.
R C Purohit, former president of FKCCI, says industry feels helpless in the face of bureaucrats who do not want to initiate or decide anything for fear of the matter being branded a scam, and ministers who are busy in power politics. Aroon Raman, former chairman of CII Karnataka, says nobody wants to take any bold decisions in the current climate where things are called a scam without discrimination. “I don't think the Isro issue was a scam. But the trouble is, the political leadership did not come out in support of Isro officials.”
Maheshwar Rao, Karnataka's industry commissioner, admits there are concerns but says the government is seriously working on the power situation, water issues, and on creating a land bank.
CII's Chandrasekhar says the answer lies in creating a ministry for programme implementation to monitor the progress of projects, and having a well-defined land acquisition policy. FKCCI's Bangera says if we have to be a Gujarat, we need a single-window mechanism in the “real sense”, one that will provide approvals within a clear timeline.
(With inputs from Mini Joseph Tejaswi)