BANGALORE: Some of the office-bearers of the All-India Gem and Jewellery Association will visit Bangalore on May 17 in search of a convenient location for establishing an export-oriented gem and jewellery park with an initial investment of over Rs. 15,000 crore, Minister for Small Industries Katta Subramanya Naidu has said.

He told presspersons here on Friday that the president of the association, whom he met in Mumbai recently, had shown interest in establishing the park in the State as a Special Economic Zone. The president had assured that the association would establish a park and the units to be opened there could produce Rs. 10,000 crore worth of export quality ornaments and generate 70,000 jobs. On its part the Government would have to provide 200 acres for the purpose in or around Bangalore. The Government had been told that the proposed park would comprise a training centre for artisans, marketing malls of international standards and also an export house for diamonds and ornaments, he said.

Asked whether the Government would ensure jobs for Kannadigas in the units in compliance with the recommendations of the Sarojini Mahishi report, Mr. Naidu said 80 per cent of the jobs would be earmarked for local people if the project became a reality.

The Government would allot land at the market price on the condition that it should be utilised for industrial purposes and not as a real-estate venture.

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