Karnataka   

State gets a good deal from Manmohan’s visit

— Photo: PTI

Memorable: Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy presenting a memento to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Bangalore on Friday.

Bangalore: The Centre and the State Government on Friday adopted a three-page resolution at the end of a day’s visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Bangalore, marking a new phase for the development of the State. Karnataka is the second State chosen by the Prime Minister to have a spot review after Andhra Pradesh.

As part of the review, the performance of the State in the implementation of various infrastructure projects received the appreciation of the Union Government as mentioned by Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, who chaired the first part of the Centre’s review of the various major projects being undertaken. The Centre has fixed a time-line for all the development projects under implementation with the support of the Union Government, and the State and the Centre will have to “necessarily abide by the deadline.”

Among the other top leaders present at the one-day review were Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Union Minister of State for Planning M.V. Rajasekharan, Minister attached to the Prime Minister’s Office Prithiviraj Chauhan, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister, B.S. Yediyurappa. The Prime Minister refrained from interacting with the media and assigned it to Mr. Pawar and Mr. Chidambaram.

Sources in the State Government told The Hindu that apart from the assurances on several agricultural and infrastructure sector programmes, Mr. Kumaraswamy also extracted a positive response from the Prime Minister on the establishm ent of an Indian Institute of Technology and a Central university in the State as part of a one-on-one discussion which he had with Dr. Manmohan Singh. The Chief Minister told the Prime Minister that the State Government would provide 1,200 acres of land in Hassan for the establishment of the IIT and the requisite land for starting a Central university at Gulbarga or any other part of the State. With reference to the Central university, the Prime Minister is stated to have told the Chief Minister that the University of Mysore could be upgraded into a Central university. Mr. Kumaraswamy, however, suggested that since the University of Mysore was a well-established university, the Centre could develop a university at another place.

Mr. Pawar said the State’s plea for utilisation of the funds allocated under the Vidarbha Package for other irrigation schemes had been approved. With the irrigation projects in the Cauvery and the Krishna basins in dispute with the respective lower riparian States, Karnataka had been unable to utilise nearly Rs. 1,210 crore set apart for irrigation schemes under the special package. The State has now been asked to send a special proposal and this would be approved by the Centre.

Thanks to the high-level review, the long-delayed Mangalore Special Economic Zone, which has the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation as a major partner, has also been given a deadline. The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board has been directed to provide for 268 acres of land by September 15 and another 262 acres of land by November 30. The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has been given a time-line for completion of the environmental impact study thus ensuring that the SEZ developer will have the requisite lands and approvals by a given date.

In the power sector, the Centre has also accepted the State’s plea to shift the Tadari project in Uttara Kannada to another location. Local residents have opposed the 4000 mw Central project on environmental grounds.

Mr Kumaraswamy told The Hindu that at the HAL airport, prior to his departure, Dr. Manmohan Singh had congratulated him on the good performance by the State and said: “I am leaving Bangalore today as a happy person. I am satisfied with the performance of the State Government. Keep it up.”

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