The Hindu : Karnataka News : State will be number one: Sindhia

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 16, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

State will be number one: Sindhia

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, SEPT. 15. Karnataka will be exporting Rs.1,00,000 crores worth of material in the next five years, the Minister for Industries, Irrigation and Infrastructure, P.G.R. Sindhia, said here on Wednesday.

Speaking at the 37th Engineers Day celebrations to mark the birth anniversary of Sir M. Visvesvaraya, organised by the Institution of Engineers (India), Karnataka branch, Mr. Sindhia said that the State would be in the number one position in the industrial sector in the country in a few years, not only in Information Technology and Biotechnology, but also in other areas.

All the irrigation projects in the State would be completed within four years. The Government was committed to developing not just the Bangalore International Airport, but also six other airports in the State, he said.

"The State has excellent technical education institutes and engineers, who are contributing to the industrial development of the State," Mr. Sindhia added.

Public sector undertakings were the backbone of industrial progress in India, but one could not ignore the importance of public and private partnership, especially after the advent of globalisation. In this direction, the Government was considering the privatisation of the Mysore Paper Mills, he said.

Lauding the contribution of Sir Visvesvaraya to the country, Mr. Sindhia said he was a man of great integrity, vision and commitment to the people.

Aircraft exports

N.R. Mohanty, Chairman of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), said the organisation was making strides in exports and would be exporting one helicopter to Israel next year. The company is also expected to get a deal from Chile for exporting helicopters to that country, he said.

Eight engineers were felicitated on the occasion for their contribution to engineering sector. They are: L.R. Wagle, Lt. Gen. V.J. Sundaram, Gp. Capt. S. Chennakeshava, B. Dattaguru, L.M. Pattanaik, S. Harnath, V.K. Basalahalli and B.N. Krishnamurthy.

K.N. Subba Rao, Chairman of the Institution's Karnataka branch, was present.

`Nobody leaving city'

Mr. Sindhia reiterated that nobody was leaving Bangalore and that this was a rumour spread by some vested interests. "Some politicians were creating rumours that people were leaving the city because of unfavourable circumstances, which is not true. The good educational institutions here and the conducive climate attracted people to this city," he said.

He admitted that the city was lacking in infrastructure and power, but the Government was taking measures to set this right.

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