Going, Going, Gone
I wonder if this development really has any effect on the powers-that-be in Vidhana Soudha.
The IT City has just lost another project to Andhra Pradesh. Biocon has decided to set up a Rs 1,000-crore manufacturing facility at Jawahar Pharma City, a special economic zone near Visakhapatnam.
Like her contemporaries in the IT/ ITES sector, Ms. Shaw is a hard nosed businesswoman first and a true-blue Bangalorean next. Given her impeccable professional credentials, the justification to move out of Bangalore obviously stems from doing a thorough research on the ground level situation.
“Karnataka does not provide any infrastructural support for industries such as ours, while Andhra Pradesh is keen to do so. In Bangalore, IT and hardware sector get all support.”
All this leads me to ask: Does Karnataka have an SEZ policy? Is it on the anvil? Does anybody have any clue? Please correct me. Googling for the same does not get information of substance. On the other hand, this is what I got for AP: 48 SEZ’s approved; 27 in IT & ITES. I wonder out of those 27 IT companies, how many of them are/were in Karnataka. If you look at a news item reporting on the 2006-2011 Industrial policy of Karnataka, no mention of SEZ’s are/have been made. If a period review of the industrial policies aren’t made keeping in mind trends & realities, other states are going to steal a march over us.
Perhaps the worthies in Vidhana Soudha should also refer this report in rediff today for an interview with Gopal Krishna Pillai, a 1972 batch Kerala cadre IAS officer, who is the chairman of the Board of Approval for Special Economic Zones. He is also India’s Commerce Secretary and has a crucial role in choreographing the United Progressive Alliance government’s ideology, tactics and strategy on the subject of SEZs.
What’s his take on why India needs SEZ’s? “The SEZs will create 2 to 3 times more jobs outside the SEZs.” Further interesting points in the interview:
– First 235 SEZ are taking 35,000 hectares where no farmer issue is involved. I will create 8.9 lakh (890,000) jobs by 2009. Does this include employment created by ancillary industries to the SEZ? If yes, this will be tremendous.
– Out of the 235 approved SEZs, 142 are SEZs for IT and will employ a million people.
– There are at present over 4,000 export-oriented units that enjoy tax holiday in India. 200 software technology parks: they have 100 per cent tax benefits
And get this:
Nike (pending allotment of 200 acres) & Adidas have evinced interest in SEZ’s in India.
If somebody within our government can pull themselves up by their bootstraps quick, they could come running here.
Whatdya say?
;)
i dunno about the SEZ’s but in Majumdar’s story, notwithstanding TOI’s for-the-effect headline, the real question is did Biocon dumped Bangalore or was it that Bangalore prevented her from dumping?
The real hint is in Majumdar’s own statement ‘Effluent treatment is expensive;’.
nimmage gotthe idiyalla, groundwater situation.
On the SEZ thingie, i think KA has some allocations. (I have to dig some to get the numbers). about 20-30. most in bangalore, a few in mysore and a few in mangalore and i think 1 in Hubli. not all IT. atleast one aerospace. might be one in machine tools, some in textiles.
The same TOI ran clarifications from Biocon the next day that Shaw was misquoted about lack of infrastructure in Bangalore. And that the core R&D is in fact expanding in Bangalore. I’ve read anecdotes on blogs about the stench around the Biocon facility in Bangalore. Maybe Bangalore can do without another polluting facility given its precarious groundwater situation.
AP is promising industrialists a lot of stuff…like land at throwaway prices, abundant water etc…donno whether Karnataka can promise the same taking ground realities into account.
BTW, list of SEZ’s and other investments can be seen at the Karnataka Udyoga Mitra website – kumbangalore.com
BTW, the KSPCB has started cracking down on companies and large residential complexes for violating the environmental norms. Recently Honeywell was served a closure notice after they failed to respond to a show-cause about why they were dumping sewage into cess pits:(
How much effect would such developments have on the business decisions on a professional like Shaw? Good riddance I would say if Shaw’s company was not totally clean on environmental regulations.
I Understand Mrs Shaws problem. KPSC is getting strict for god known reason and officials are not getting bribed to let all the untreated water into Bangalore grounds. Add to this misery of lack of tranined womanpower/man power.
Obviously BICON should have started off in AP itself. We need our AP brothers/sisters to get jobs too ;-)