BANGALORE: Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said here on Friday that he will persuade SemIndia president Vinod K. Mehta to set up the $ 3-billion Fab City project in Karnataka.

Mr. Kumaraswamy's statement comes a day after the Telecommunication and Information Technology Minister Dayanidhi Maran announced that the country's first foray into chip manufacturing will happen in Hyderabad. The Chief Minister denied that the State Government had been slack in pursuing the project. "I feel SemIndia will reconsider its decision. Such things are known to happen, and I will be visiting New Delhi on Monday with officials to persuade Mr. Agarwal", he said. "The former Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh wrote to the Centre a couple of times indicating that the Government is going all out to bring the project to Karnataka. We were regularly in talks with SemIndia and the consortium knew that all its requirements will be met," Mr. Kumaraswamy said. India's first semi-conductor wafer fabrication or "fab" plant, with dual core microprocessor technology along with an assembly, test and mark parking (ATMP) facility will translate into 36 lakh jobs by 2015. Mr. Kumaraswamy said Thursday's announcement by Mr. Maran has not surprised him. Neither is he willing to blame official laxity and neglect amidst the political turmoil of the past few weeks for Karnataka losing out to Andhra Pradesh.

SemIndia had been enthusiastic about locating the project on 1,500 acres in Thandya near Nanjangud. Ample quality water from the Kabini reservoir is available, and the Government is ready to make provisions for water treatment as required at the facility. The only point awaiting finalisation is the rate at which power will be supplied. Andhra Pradesh has offered power at Rs. 2.25 a unit. Karnataka has said setting up a dedicated power plant of 60 MW capacity will not be a problem.

The Visvesvaraya Technological University has even signed an agreement with SemIndia to set up a polytechnic institute with courses that will create a new workforce of qualified semi-conductor technologists to work in Fab City. Mr. Kumaraswamy said there are many factors that can go against Andhra Pradesh even now. If Tamil Nadu has its Tamil refugees problem, Andhra Pradesh has the problem of naxalites. Karnataka is free from such militant activity, and even natural calamities are not known to happen here, making it a "heaven for investors".

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail