BANGALORE: Though the Government speaks volumes about elimination of regional imbalances in the State, it has done little to attract investment in backward districts, particularly north Karnataka.

Seven districts did not receive any investment in industrial projects in the first five months of the current fiscal year (2006-07).

Bangalore Urban, Bangalore Rural and Mysore districts alone received 65 per cent of the industrial projects, leaving 24 districts to share the rest.

Four districts of north Karnataka — Gulbarga, Bagalkot, Gadag and Koppal — did not receive any project during the period. Chamarajanagar, Chikmagalur and Udupi districts are also in the same category. Uttara Kannada, Raichur, Kodagu and Davangere districts bagged one project each, sources in the Industries Department told The Hindu .

312 projects

Industrialists did not come forward to invest in Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Gadag, Chamarajanagar, Chikmagalur, Bidar and Davangere districts during 2005-06. During 2004-05, Bidar, Chamarajanagar, Gadag, and Udupi districts did not receive a single project, they said.

During April-August, 2006, the State-Level Single Window Agency (SLSWA), Karnataka Udyog Mitra, cleared 312 projects in the below Rs. 50-crore category amounting to Rs. 3,831.43 crore, which is expected to generate 3,08,406 lakh jobs.

Investments

The SLSWA cleared 297 projects with investments amounting to Rs. 67,5961 crore during 2005-06, 202 projects with investments of Rs. 4,524.76 crore during 2004-05 and 164 projects with investments amounting to Rs. 3,893.47 crore during 2003-04, and 95 projects with investments of Rs. 1,822.96 crore during 2002-03.

During 2005-06, 13 districts did not receive any investment in the list of projects (above Rs. 50-crore category) cleared by the State High-Level Clearance Committee (SHLC) headed by the Chief Minister.

The districts are Bagalkot, Bidar, Bijapur, Chamarajanagar, Chikmagalur, Chitradurga, Davangere, Gadag, Haveri, Kodagu, Kolar, Shimoga and Tumkur.

The SHLC cleared 56 projects with investments amounting to Rs. 66,513.79 crore with an employment potential of 11,03,824 last year. Despite a public outcry against infrastructure bottlenecks, Bangalore Urban and Rural districts received investments amounting to Rs. 25,568.33 crore (20 projects) and Rs. 4,772.58 crore (six projects), respectively.

Speaking at a seminar on "Cities of Karnataka: Magnets of Hope Beyond Bangalore" last week, members of industry associations in Hubli and Bangalore said regional imbalances in industrial growth were widening. Industrialists were keen only on investing in and around Bangalore and Mysore where infrastructure such as water, electricity and talent were available.

Constraints

Frequent power cuts, water scarcity, bad roads, inadequate marketing facilities and delay in the process of land allotment were the major constraints for investment in other districts, they said.

A. Ravindra, Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Board, said that setting up of skill development centres and creation of markets would help in attracting investment in small towns. Anant Koppar, president of MphasiS, said that absence of inter-governmental alignment was a problem. A.K. Agarwal, Additional Chief Secretary, said there was no proper strategy to promote investment in second-tier cities.

There were 32 Class One cities in the State, he added.

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