Biz area for Taiwanese firms in Bangalore, Mysore proposed

The South Korean steel giant Posco may have exited the State but the confidence of the Commerce and Industries (C&I) Department to attract big businesses has been restored as a high-level business delegation from Taiwan is due to visit Bangalore in August.

The delegation will visit potential sites proffered for an exclusive industrial park for companies from Taiwan. The park could give Karnataka’s economy a significant boost and help enhance the semi-conductor manufacturing ecosystem and the IT industry here.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, M N Vidyashankar, Principal Secretary, C&I Department, explained that the delegation will be taken on a tour of all Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) industrial areas, around Bangalore and Mysore, as the Taiwanese have expressed an interest in setting up the park near semi-conductor and IT hubs.

But it is still unclear how many acres are needed for the proposed park.

“There is no decision on that yet,” a source said. “We first want them to decide on a particular area — after which talks will be held on how many companies want to come here, how much investment will be made and now much land they will need.”

Sources added that the delegation was originally due to visit Bangalore in July.

Japanese City

It is important to note that a similar project mooted for Japanese industries has been on the drawing board for over two years now.

As part of a Dialogue Committee — set up between the government, five Japanese firms and the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) — talks for a ‘Japanese City’ had begun in 2009-10. About 107 out of 840 Japanese companies in the country are located in Karnataka.

But the project seems to have been stuck in limbo, with no decision being made on the land. Vidyashankar, however, claimed that there has been progress.

“The Japanese have visited three potential sites in the State, and once they decided on where they want the park, we will begin the process,” he said.

The three sites are located at Kolar, in Mysore and a location on the way to Sira, near Tumkur.