by recirprocal arrangement with Star of Mysore

Mysore, June 17:It really does not take the genius of a statistician nor the gut predictions of an astrologer to say what ails the city of Mysore, what stops it from becoming the natural city of hope and what curse it persistently suffers from.

Even for a common man, the scene of Mysore, projected as next only to capital Bangalore as the next big city, is clear. It is time and again losing out on big deals. First it was the ambitious Rs. 13,000 crore semi-conductor manufacturing plant — Fab city. Before the State could even get hold of the size of the project and the employment it could create, the project was happily lapped up by the neighbouring hi-tech city Hyderabad.

Now, to add salt to the already sore wound, the State, in particularly Mysore, has lost another big project — Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of the software major Infosys.

The central body — single window clearing agency for SEZs — the Board of Approval (BoA) has finally selected Dakshina Kannada over Mysore for giving permission to Infosys when the latter proposed two SEZs in the State.

The reason is not far to seek. Dakshina Kannada has better infrastructure like an operational airport, a sea port and better road network. Compare that to Mysore — the much-publicised and much-debated BMIC Expressway to link Mysore with Bangalore is evermired in controversies. The project is yet to see the light of the day.

The other drawback, the Department of Industries and Commerce sources said played a key role in not recognising Mysore, was the airport project in Mysore. It is only on paper the MoU is lying and it is only the tall promises one hear from the powers that be, but the airport at Mandakalli may never see any metal birds landing for a brief stay.

In fact, the loss to Mysore city with Infosys SEZ going away, is much larger than one could easily calculate. Infosys had big plans for the city. Over and above the existing strength, the company had plans to add another 5,000 employees, sources say.

It is not only a setback in terms of lost opportunities in creating further employment, direct and indirect, but is also a lost chance to impress the prospective investors who are still eying Mysore as the best Tier-II city.