Industrial land bank plan in Belagavi stalled

Belagavi: The proposal to create a 1,000-acre land bank for industries in Belagavi, first mooted in 2014, remains unimplemented. Lack of land has deterred new investments, affecting industrial growth, despite the city's strategic location and strong connectivity across Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa.Land bank options in Belagavi district primarily comprise industrial plots managed by KSSIDC/KIADB and agricultural land development financing.The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) in Belagavi facilitates industrial growth through land acquisition and infrastructure development. Major projects include developing industrial areas, supporting manufacturing units, and land acquisition for regional infrastructure projects.Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation (KSSIDC) in Belagavi promotes SMEs through industrial estates, providing essential infrastructure like sheds, plots, power, and water, mainly located in areas such as Udyambag, Ambewadi, Kanbargi, Khanapura, and Ramdurg. It offers raw material distribution and technical support services.The KIADB announced an acquisition of 1,000 acres of land for an industrial corridor along the Chennai-Bengaluru-Mumbai National Highway passing through Belagavi district and a new industrial estate in Belagavi. The KIADB made this announcement in 2014, but no land acquisition efforts have been made so far.At the Global Investors Summit, 10 companies came forward to invest over Rs 28,000 crore in Belagavi district. It was expected that this would directly create over 12,500 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs. Even after a year since the investment announcement by the Invest Karnataka Summit, the district has not been able to identify enough land for industrial companies.The industrialists said lack of willpower of the people's representatives and the officials also contributed a lot to the issue.Satyanarayana Bhat, joint director, department of industries, said in a statement that Belagavi district is attractive due to its vast resources. Large-scale industries need large-scale lands. At present, there is not a large amount of land available in Belagavi.Prabhakar Nagarmanoli, the president of the Belagavi Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BCCI), said that there have been attempts to bring large industries, including IT-BT, to Belagavi for a long time. But they have not materialised yet. Many other issues have hindered the establishment and growth of industries. If more attention is paid to resolve the issues, the industrial sector can grow and can be developed.Priyank Kharge, the minister for rural development and panchayat raj, information technology and biotechnology, while addressing the Assembly session recently, said that the govt intends to build an IT park and semiconductor park in the border district. The Central govt has not yet taken action to hand over the proposed land, which is under the defence department. Steps are being taken to set up a Global Technology Centre (GTD) in collaboration with the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM) in the Kalamandir building in Tilakwadi, Belagavi.