3 City hubs may get Industrial Township Authority tag

Notified areas will be excluded from local bodies and planning panel jurisdiction

Peenya Industrial Area and Bommasandra are the other two hubs shortlisted for the special status and autonomy.

Industrial associations of these zones have long been seeking township authority tag. The legislation paving way for setting up industrial township authority was passed in 2002 by making amendments to the Karnataka Municipalities Act. However, successive governments had put enactment of its provision on the backburner citing various reasons.

 The Urban Development Department (UDD) now plans to clear the hurdles for setting up the township authorities once the statistical details of census -2011 are published. The census work is scheduled to be completed by next February-end.

The census data will provide us the necessary inputs for a fresh evaluation of industrial zones. We plan to carve out the extent of the proposed industrial township authorities soon after the evaluation, sources in the department told Deccan Herald.

Bangalore’s flagship IT hub - Electronic City is likely to get the tag first as an industrial township authority, the sources said.

As mandated by the 74th amendment to the Constitution, once given township authority status, the notified area will be excluded from the jurisdiction of local bodies and planning panels.

 Administration will be done by industrialists and the authority will also have full administrative powers, including collection of property tax and regulation and construction of buildings.

At present, Electronic City has been kept out of the jurisdiction of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and falls under Doddathoguru and Konappana Agrahara Gram Panchayats. The hub is maintained by the Electronics City Industries’ Association.

“The State government has been in correspondence with us. They have sought several clarifications which we have provided to them,” ECIA Col Mohan Chandran said.

 Last year, the BBMP placed a proposal before the government to bring Electronic City under its jurisdiction, but it did not materialise. ECIA had sought a township tag instead.
Notifying Asia’s largest industrial zone, Peenya Industrial Area, as an authority would mean that 40 sq kms would come out of the BBMP jurisdiction.

It would translate to at least five BBMP wards ceasing to exist. The elected representatives will however be accommodated as members of the authority, UDD sources said.

Initially, the government will nominate five industrialists to the authority. Subsequently, industrialists will elect their representatives. Besides, three members each from department of industries, town planning and urban development will be nominated to the body, the sources added.