Raviprasad Kamila/The Hindu

• Such a status to four other places under study 
• After the notification, KSIA will have to maintain basic facilities in the area
• There are two zones in the Baikampady industrial area

Mangalore, Aug 19: The State Government is planning to notify the Baikampady industrial area here as an industrial township, according to a senior official in the Department of Industries and Commerce.

When notified, the Kanara Small Industries Association (KSIA) will have to take up the development and maintenance of basic facilities in the area by collecting cess from the industrial units. Thirty per cent of the revenue collected by the association will have to be paid to the Mangalore City Corporation annually, according to the official.

He told The Hindu that he met the office-bearers of KSIA here last week and informed them to be prepared for the change.

Shifting responsibility

The official said that before notifying the area as an industrial township, the Government would improve facilities such as roads, drains, water supply etc. The association would be required to maintain and upgrade them further.

The industries in the area would not be required to pay any additional tax to the corporation, he added.

The Government was considering declaring industrial areas at Hubli and Peenya, Bommasandra and Electronic City (in Bangalore) as industrial townships along with the one at Baikampady here, he said.

A KSIA member said that it was not a new proposal. “We have been hearing this for the past five years. But nothing has been done to implement it,” he said.

However, the official said that this time the Government was “serious” about notifying the areas as industrial townships.

Asked how long it would take to notify, he said he was not sure about that.

M. Govind Bhat, secretary of the association, said that the Government’s move to upgrade the basic facilities was welcome. He said that it might not be possible for the association to maintain and further upgrade the facilities as the revenue from industries might not be adequate. It could expect revenue only from industries functioning successfully, he said.

“When the city corporation itself is not ready to upgrade and maintain the basic facilities, will it be possible for the association to do it?” he asked.

He said that there were two zones in the Baikampady industrial area, each under the supervision of Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) and Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation (KSSIDC).

Mr. Bhat said whenever the basic facilities had to be upgraded, the corporation left it to either KIADB or KSSIDC. At present, the KIADB was in the process of upgrading roads and storm water drains in the area, he said.

However, Sumith S. Rao, president, District Small Industries Association (DSIA), Mangalore, said that the proposal of the Government could be implemented. In Yeyyadi industrial area here, the DSIA had been maintaining water supply for the past two years by collecting afee from the industries in the area. Earlier, KSSIDC was looking after the water supply there. “We do not get water from the corporation. We get it from the two borewells in the area,” he said.

Mr. Rao said if the Government notified Yeyyadi as a township, the association could take up maintenance of basic facilities.

The industry associations here have been requesting the Government to upgrade the basic facilities in the two industrial areas for the past five years.